Collection Shuhdi `Atiyya al- Shafi`i
Period
1945, 1955-1958
Total size
0.36 m.
Consultation
Not restricted
Biography
Born in 1912, died in Cairo 1960; Egyptian communist and publicist; studied literature; took his masters degree at Cambridge University; returned to Egypt during the Second World War; one of the founders of the Dar al-Abhath al-cIlmiyya (Scientific Research Council), which attracted many left-wing intellectuals; within the Egyptian communist movement Shuhdi 'Atiyya belonged to the Iskra Group and was one of the authors of its programme; involved in the student and workers' revolt against the British domination of Egypt in 1946; editor of the communist newspaper al-Jamahir (The Masses) from 1947; in 1948 sentenced to a seven years prison term; in the 1950s he supported a rapprochement with the regime of the Free Officers of Gamal Abdel Nasser because of its policy of land reform, nationalizations and anti-imperialism, which reached its summit during the Suez crisis in 1956; in 1958 however, the unification of Egypt with Syria strained the cooperation with the Nasserist regime; with hundreds of other communists Shuhdi 'Atiyya was arrested in 1959 and sentenced in 1960; he died under torture in the Abu Zacbal prison in the same year; his publications include `Amrika wa-l-Sharq al-Awsat' (`America and the Middle East') 1955 and `Tatawwur al-Haraka al Wataniyya al-Misriyya 1882-1956' (`The Development of the Egyptian Nationalist Movement, 1882-1956') 1957, which is one of the most penetrating Marxist interpretations of Egyptian history.
Content
Parts of the manuscript of `Tatawwur al-Haraka al Wataniyya al-Misriyya 1882-1956'; manuscripts of short stories; typewritten notes and printed source material used for different books; copy of the Iskra Group programme `Ahdafuna al-Wataniyya' (`Our National Goals') 1945.
INTRODUCTION
History
Shuhdi 'Atiyya
al-Shafici
(born in 1912) became involved as a student in the
student movement of the 1930s which inaugurated a more radical phase of the
Egyptian nationalist movement. He graduated in English at the Faculty of Arts
and taught for a while at a secondary school. At the end of the 1930s he won a
prize for his short stories and acquired a grant from the Ministry of Education
to study at
Oxford University
. When he returned to Egypt
in 1940 he took up his former profession as teacher and obtained the rank of
overseer of the Ministry of Education in 1947.
In this period he joined
Iskra
and became one of the two Egyptian members of its
Central Committee. He assigned responsibility for running Dar al-Abhath
al-cIlmiyya (The House of Scientific Learning), the cultural platform of Iskra,
which attracted many young Egyptian left-wing intellectuals to the communist
movement.
In addition,
Shuhdi 'Atiyya
, together with
Muhammad cAbd al-Macbud al-Jubayli
, drew up the
nationalist programme of the Iskra group within the Communist movement, called
Ahdafuna al-Wataniyya (Our National Goals)
, which was
printed in 1945. He also participated in establishing the National Committee
for the Students and Workers which led the student and workers' revolt of
February-March 1946 against negotiations of the Egyptian minority government
with Great Britain.
When Iskra merged with the
Egyptian
Movement for the National Liberation (EMNL)
to found the
Democratic Movement for National Liberation (DMNL)
in
1947, Shuhdi 'Atiyya became editor of its famous newspaper
al-Jamahir
(The Masses)
. At the same time he also became a member of its
Central Committee.
He immediately clashed with
Henri
Curiel
over his line to unite all nationalist and progressive forces
in one front. In protest, he wrote several articles in al-Jamahir, calling for
the founding of a
Communist Party
that should be
revolutionary and represented only the working class. When the Central Comittee
refused to discuss his report that expounded his revolutionary ideas, he left
DMNL to establish
DMNL - Revolutionary Wing (Haditu--al-Tayyar
al-Thawri)
. This organisation, that never acquired much support,
rejoined DMNL again in 1955. During the repression of the communist movement in
1948 Shuhdi 'Atiyya was sentenced to seven years in prison. By the time he was
released the communist movement was in conflict with the military regime which
had taken over power in July 1952.
In spite of his revolutionary episode
in the DMNL-Revolutionary Wing, Shuhdi Atiyya became one of the most outspoken
supporters within the communist movement of the Free Officers, whom he regarded
as a progressive movement on account of their anti-imperialist and reformist
stance. He explained his ideas in his book Amrika wa-l-Sharq al-Awsat (America
and the Middle East), published during
Gamal Abd
al-Nasir
's resistence against the Baghdad Pact in 1955. Because of
his sympathetic attitude towards the regime, Shuhdi 'Atiyya's was allowed to
expound his ideas in the newly founded al-Masa' newspaper. After the
nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company in July 1956 and the following Suez
crisis, he wrote his famous historical analysis of the Egyptian nationalist
movement Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya 1882-1956 (The Development
of the
Egyptian Nationalist Movement
, 1882-1956), which
contains one of the most remarkable Marxist/nationalist interpretations of
Egyptian history. He also published a collection of short stories, Hara Umm
al-Husayni, which was serialised in the newspaper al-Masa'.
Relations
with the military deteriorated dramatically, however, after communist
opposition in Syria and Iraq against the unification of Syria and Egypt in
February 1958 under the leadership of Nasser. On the the first of January 1959
Shuhdi 'Atiyya was arrested for the second time and imprisoned, together with
hundreds of other communists. Despite his arrest and the repression of the
Communist movement, he continued to support the internal reforms and the
neutralist foreign policy of the regime. During his trial in March 1960 he
stated that every true nationalist citizen should support the government. On 15
June 1960 Shuhdi 'Atiyya died under torture in Abu Zacbal prison.
The collection
The collection of Shuhdi
'Atiyya al-Shafici was donated in 1997 to the
IISH
by dr.
Rifcat al-Sacid
. A large part of the collection consists
of preliminary and final drafts of the historical work that Shuhdi 'Atiyya
al-Shafici wrote in 1956, Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya,
1882-1956. Much effort has gone into trying to systematise and organise the
numerous drafts of this historical work, with the aim to enable researchers to
trace the development and shifts of Shuhdi Atiyya's political thought in the
different drafts of the manuscript and compare them with the final version of
the book. A distinction has been made between preliminary and the final draft,
although the final draft has also been heavily edited. The different drafts of
the manuscript, preliminary and final, were in complete disarray when they
arrived at the IISH. Ninety percent of the received manuscript has been traced
and put together according to the numbers of the pages, the style of
handwriting and different hues of ink. This does not mean that the manuscript
is now complete; although the final draft of the manuscript is almost
recovered, large sections of the preliminary drafts are either missing or
include several versions. Some parts were, for example, unretrievable, while
other sections, such as chapter X, and especially some specific paragraphs of
this chapter, have been rewritten several times and are therefore available in
different versions. The collection also contains a small part of the edited
print proofs.
In addition to his manuscripts and proof prints, the second
part of the collection consists of notes and documentation Shuhdi 'Atiyya
presumably used for writing his historical work. This part consists of economic
statistics, reports of banks, magazine cuttings and other material.
The
third part of the collection consists of drafts of the manuscripts of his
collection of short stories Hara Umm al-Husayni and 'Aziza and his more
philosophical work Mawkib al-Bishriyya. These manuscripts are complete and are
in their final form. Also a manuscript of a pamphlet of Shuhdi 'Atiyya on
Nasser has been found among the collection and was added to this part.
INVENTORY
Publications
Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya, 1882-1956
- 1-21
-
Preliminary drafts of the
manuscript of Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya, 1882-1956.
1955-1956.
20 covers and 1 folder.
- 1
-
Pages 19-24 of the
preliminary draft of paragraph 4, entitled `al-Thawra al-Wataniyya wa-l-Tabaqa
al-cAmila'.
N.B. This draft exists only in manuscript form.
- 2
-
Pages 1-20 of preliminary
draft of the paragraphs entitled `al-Tabaqa al-cAmila al-Misriyya' and `Hala
al-Iqtisadiyya'.
N.B. This draft exists only in manuscript form.
- 4
- Preliminary draft of chapter III (no page numbers), section `Inbcath al-Haraka al-Wataniyya', pages 14-21 in book.
- 7
-
Pages 97-128 of a preliminary
draft of chapter VI, pages 87-109 in the book.
N.B. contains important differences with the final chapter in the book.
- 8
- Pages 22-24 of a preliminary draft of chapter VII, paragraph `al-Tatawwur al-Iqtisad', pages 88- (?) in the book.
- 9
- Pages 160-161 of a preliminary draft of chapter VII, paragraph `Awjaha Quwwa, Awjaha Dacf', pages 108-109 in the book.
- 10
- Pages 130-133 of a preliminary draft of chapter VIII, paragraph `al-Zuruf al-Dakhiliyya', pages 110-112 in the book.
- 11
- Pages 36-49 of a preliminary draft of chapter IX, paragraph `al-Iqtac', pages 141 to (?) in the book.
- 12
- Pages 37-48 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraph `Kashaf al-Isticmar' and `Bandung', pages 149-163 in the book.
- 13
- Pages 257-260 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraph `Kashaf al-Isticmar', pages 149-153 in the book.
- 14
- Pages 257-259 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraph `Kashaf al-Isticmar', pages 149-153 in the book.
- 15
- Pages 261-278 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraphs `Inhad al-Iqtisad' to (?), pages 155 to (?) in the book.
- 16
- Pages 51-57 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraph `Safqa al-Asliha al-Sufyatiyya al-Tshakiyya', pages 166-168 in the book.
- 17
- Pages 46-62 of a preliminary draft of chapter X, paragraphs `Rafd Hilf Baghdad' and `Safqa al-Asliha al-Sufyatiyya al-Tshakiyya', pages 156-168 in the book.
- 22-28
-
Final draft of Tatawwur
al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya, 1882-1956.
1956.
7 covers.
- 23
- Pages 54-94 of the final draft of chapters V and VI, paragraphs `Nahda Ijtimaciyya wa Adabiyya' to `al-Haraka al-cUmmaliyya,' pages 58-84 in the book.
- 25
- Pages 144-155 of preliminary draft of chapter VII, paragraphs `Awamil Dacf' and `Hariq al-Qahira', pages 116-123 in the book.
Notes and documentation
- 30-53
-
Notes and documentation
used for the writing of Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya, 1882-1956.
1956.
21 covers and 3 folders.
- 30
- Excerpts from the article entitled `Two Conferences, Two Papers.' November 1958. N.B. Handwritten excerpts by Shuhdi Atiyya . 5 pages.
- 31
- Article in manuscript form entitled `On the Soviet Union': Hawl al-Ittihad al-Sufyati. 1957. 6 pages.
- 35
- Different parts of historical works on 19th century Egypt and European history, written in Arabic by unknown authors. N.d.
- 40
- Typescript on the the economic history of the July revolution between 1952-1957 : al-Qism al-Thalith. Thawra Yulyu 1952-1957. 1957.
- 42
- Part of a report written by Henry G. Abrey , Small Industry in Economic Development, Social Research vol. 18 No. 31, page 16 to 21. September 1951.
- 45
- Pamphlet issued by the Algerian Communist Party , Liberté, Organe clandistin du Parti Communiste Alg. eacute;rien, No. 21. December 1957.
- 46
- Documentary material collected for the writing of Tatawwur al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya, 1882-1956.
Other publications
- 54-59
- Notes and various drafts of the manuscript of Mawkib al-Bishriyya (Triumph of Humanity). N.d. 4 covers and 2 folders.
- 60-64
- Different drafts of the manuscript of the collection of short stories Hara Umm al-Husaini. With other documents concerning the manuscript. N.d. 5 covers.
- 66
-
Manuscript of Awwal Thawra
Fikriyya fi al-cAlam. N.d.
1 cover.
NB. Second chapter heavily damaged and incomplete. 37 pages.