Mohamed Abdul Khalek Hassouna

Born in Cairo in 1898,^[1] Abdel-Khalek Hassouna was the grandson of Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Hassouna El-Nawawi, who hails from the noble Hassouna family. He obtained a degree in law in 1921.^[1] Hassouna Pasha as he was later known obtained his masters and doctorate degrees in economics and political science from the University of Cambridge in 1925,^[1] where he was a member of Magdalene College. He joined the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1926 and served at the Egyptian embassies in Berlin, Rome, Prague and Stockholm.^[1]

Hassouna was the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Social Affairs between 1939 and 1942.^[1] He served as governor of Alexandria from 1942 to 1948,^[1] during which time the University of Alexandria was completed. He served as social affairs minister between 1949 and 1952 and then minister of education and foreign affairs in 1952.^[1]

He succeeded Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam at the Arab League in 1952^[2] and served for the next 20 years. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Riad in 1972, and died on 20 January 1992.^[3]