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5	Education and Legislation

Simaika was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1906—the year of his retirement from the Egyptian State Railways—to fill the vacancy for a Coptic member that had occurred with the death of Basili Pasha Tadrus, a former judge of the High Court of Appeal. He was chosen by the British Agency in preference to Scandar Pasha Fahmi, who was strongly supported by both Khedive Abbas Hilmi II and Boutros Pasha Ghali.

My appointment in this important position came as a great surprise to me, knowing the claims of Scandar Pasha and his strong protectors. I felt it my duty to call on Boutros Pasha and to offer to relinquish this position in favour of Scandar Pasha. I submitted to Boutros Pasha in a private and confidential interview the Khedive’s desire to favour Scandar Pasha. Boutros Pasha replied, “I must tell you that Lord Cromer insists on your appointment. Besides he has decided to appoint you a member of the Superior Council of Education and I advise you to accept.”²⁶

The Superior Council of Education

The first Superior Council of Education (SCE) was presided over by Saad Pasha Zaghlul, who had just been appointed minister of education. Its members were Mr. Douglas Dunlop, the secretary general to the Ministry of Education; two Egyptian ministers, Hussein Pasha Rushdi and Isma‘il Pasha Sirri; the financial adviser to the Egyptian government, Sir Henry Paul Harvey; the head of the Legal Department, M. De RoccaSera; the director general of Technical and Industrial Education, Sir Sidney Wells; and three members of the Legislative Council, Elwi Pasha, Abd al-Ghaffar Bey, and Simaika.

The SCE met regularly to examine the more important matters related to education in Egypt. Simaika worked harmoniously with his colleagues, and clashes were few. One of these confrontations occurred when discussing religious instruction in government schools. A proposal had been submitted by Zaghlul Pasha that marks obtained in examinations in Islamic religious instruction should be considered in the promotion of a student from one grade to a higher one. Before the meeting, Simaika gave notice to Zaghlul Pasha of his intention of opposing this measure. Zaghlul Pasha, who had no patience for discussion and was easily roused, left Rushdi Pasha to deal with the matter.

“Mr. President, allow me to make some remarks,” Simaika began by saying.

“Simaika Bey, you must remember that the government can only recognize Mohammedan religious instruction in its schools,” Rushdi Pasha interrupted.

“Excuse me, Pasha,” Simaika said. “I consider ours an Egyptian Government bound to look after the interests of all its subjects whether Moslem, Christian or Jew.”

“Do not look on me as a fanatical agent,” Rushdi Pasha replied most kindly.

“By no means,” replied Simaika, “you made some remarks and I felt it my duty to reply thereto. Had you left me to continue my remarks I think I could have convinced you that the measure suggested will place the Moslem students at a disadvantage as compared with their Christian colleagues, for if a Moslem fails in the examination of religious instruction he would lose a year and his Christian colleague would gain ground on him, though perhaps inferior to him in other respects.”²⁷

As a result of this discussion, Zaghlul Pasha withdrew his proposal. Apart from this incident, Simaika was on very friendly terms with Zaghlul Pasha, both having a profound respect for one another.

An important point made by Simaika to his colleagues in the SCE was that it was the duty of the various communities to build schools to help propagate education and assist the government in this vital issue. He played a leading role in the promulgation of the law regarding government grants to private schools, subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Education. Passage of this law resulted in a marked increase in the number of schools in the country. He also battled hard for grants to be given to assist in the construction of industrial schools by the various communities. He proposed the founding of a large Coptic college for girls, and begged his colleagues in the council to persuade the government to donate a plot of land for the building of this college. His aim was eventually realized, and the Coptic Girls College was built in Abbasiya in 1910, with Simaika remaining its chairman until 1933. Simaika remained a member of the Superior Council of Education until 1923.

The Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly

Egypt established the earliest administrative and legislative codes in history, offering the most advanced form of management, and it is the pharaonic civilization in Egypt that laid the groundwork of governance.

In November 1866, Khedive Isma‘il established the Chamber of Notables, an assembly of delegates with a purely advisory role. In 1883, the Regular Law stated that the Egyptian parliament would consist of two chambers, the Legislative Council and the General Assembly. It also established the Councils of Provinces, whose functions were both administrative and legislative, and which were also entrusted with election of members to the Legislative Council and the General Assembly. The Legislative Council, which had a term of service of six years, consisted of thirty members. Fourteen were appointed, including the president of the council and one of his two deputies; the other sixteen were elected, including the other deputy to the president. The General Assembly consisted of eighty-three members, forty-six elected and seventeen appointed, the rest being ex-officio members.

In July 1913, both the Legislative Council and the General Assembly were dissolved and the Legislative Assembly established. This new body consisted of eighty-three members, sixty-six of whom were elected and seventeen appointed, and its term was six years. In fact, this Legislative Assembly only sat from January 22, 1914 until June 17, 1914, as a result of the onset of the First World War and martial law being declared in Egypt. In November 1914, Britain declared Egypt a British protectorate, and the Legislative Assembly sessions were postponed until the end of the First World War. Declaration of Egypt’s independence on February 22, 1922, was followed by the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly in April 1923, and the establishment of the Chamber of Deputies.

Boutros Pasha Ghali had persuaded Prince Hussein Kamel (1853–1917), later Sultan Hussein Kamel, who was Khedive Isma‘il’s favorite son and a younger brother of Khedive Tewfik, to accept the presidency of the Legislative Council in succession to Abd al-Hamid Pasha Sadek, an elderly gentleman of Turkish descent and very refined manners. Prince Hussein Kamel was a grand seigneur, brought up in the stately court of the Tuileries during Napoleon III’s Second Empire in Paris. He had a royal dignity in his carriage, whether seated or standing. By instinct and training, he was in all matters of finance, government, and attitude toward Egyptians and foreigners the image of his illustrious father. Like his father, he was also recklessly generous. On the occasion of the return of his nephew Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, who had succeeded his father Tewfik Pasha in 1892, from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the prince arranged for a special train to convey the members of the Legislative Council and the General Assembly to Suez to welcome the sovereign upon his arrival. This was all paid out of his private purse and included meals and refreshments. A liberal and completely free of fanatism, he also contributed in January 1908 from his private purse the sum of LE30 to the subscription for the Coptic Museum, followed by a sum of LE500 in 1914 for the establishment of a library there.

When his nephew Khedive Abbas Hilmi II was exiled in 1914, having shown sympathy to the Central Powers at the onset of the First World War, Prince Hussein Kamel was offered the throne but twice refused, afraid of being regarded as the choice of the British Agency. After the outbreak of the war in 1914, the British government decided that Egypt would either be named a protectorate or be annexed as part of the British Empire.

The prince was informed that Egypt would be annexed if he persisted in refusing the throne. This message was conveyed to him in November 1914 by Sir Ronald Storrs,²⁸ the oriental secretary, and Sir Milne Cheetham, the counselor to the agency, acting for Lord Kitchener. Due to this ultimatum, the prince accepted, but suggested that Egypt be made a kingdom. This was refused as his suzerain was a king, the British monarch. A compromise was reached: Egypt was named a sultanate and the prince became Sultan of Egypt and Sudan. The title of sultan was first adopted by Salah al-Din (Saladin) in 1174. The decision to annex Egypt to the British Empire was made on November 13, 1914, but as a result of Prince Hussein Kamel’s acceptance of the throne, Egypt was named a protectorate on November 19, 1914.

On the sultan’s death in 1917, his only surviving son, Prince Kamal al-Din (1874–1932), was offered the sultanate, but he refused, under the pretext of preferring to focus on his love of desert exploration. It is rumored that the main reason for his refusal of the sultanate was the influence of his wife, Princess Nimet Allah, daughter of Khedive Tewfik, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of her brother the khedive Abbas Hilmi II’s dethronement by the British occupying power in 1914.