Refa'a El Tahtawi

One of the leaders of the scientific renaissance in Egypt

Rifa'a el Tahtawi was born in Tahta in 1801. He went to Cairo when he was 6 years old to study in Al-Azhar (most prestigious religious university in Muslim world), after graduation he went for two years in the Egyptian army as an imam.

Travelling to France

The starting point in the biography of the great Rifa'a El Tahtawi was when he traveled to France on recommendation of his teacher and mentor Hassan el Attar , to be an Imam of a group of Egyptian students ; who were members of the mission sent by Mohamed Ali ( Egypt's governor at the time ) to Paris in 1829 to study science and art at the European universities and acquire technical skills .Tahtawi studied the French language first , then he studied ethics , social and political philosophy and mathematics and geography .

Return to Egypt

In 1831, Tahtawi returned home to be part of the statewide effort to modernize the Egyptian infrastructure and education especially in the fields of translation which later became the school of languages.

He was appointed as a director along with his job as instructor.

He also set up a school of accounting and political sciences; he made efforts to arabize teaching of science in schools.

Although both Khedives Abbas & Said caused many troubles to Tahtawi, Khedive Ismail returned him to his work in translation and education fields. His work was the first effort in what became an Egyptian renaissance that flourished in the years between 1860-1940.

A Paris profile

This book was written during Tahtawi's stay in France, as a member of the educational mission.

It included his political and social views on life in France and all his memoirs of Paris as well.

Translation: the French constitution

El Tahtawi was very impressed by the French constitution that he translated it into Arabic and included it in the third chapter of his book entitled "A Paris Profile ".

This work was considered of great influence on the Egyptian political life and led it   to change its course into western democracy 

Quotation (said about Paris intended to fellow Egyptians)

One of the most useful things to any citizen is the newspapers, which are printed daily, to inform people on the current events
These newspapers are spread around the city, available for anyone to buy .
Within its pages anyone can express his true opinion and views about the government , and wether it was good or bad with no fear at all.