Historical figures in Cairo
The atlas holds 65 people and 138 moments here, from 2566 BC to 2021. The most recorded lives are Naguib Mahfouz, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Mohamed Morsi. Among them Political Leaders, Writers and Military Leaders, across the Space Age and the Cold War.
Notable people
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
in 1964
1 moment here
Algerian politician, diplomat, and president. Born in Oujda, he joined the National Liberation Army during the Algerian War, served as Algeria's…
Abdurrahman Wahid
in 1963
1 moment here
Indonesian Islamic scholar, Nahdlatul Ulama leader, reform advocate, and fourth president of Indonesia (1999–2001), widely known as Gus Dur.…
Abu Nuwas
from 805 to 807
2 moments here
Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī was a classical Arabic poet. Sources document his birth in the Ahvaz area, childhood and study in Basra and…
Agatha Christie
in 1907
1 moment here
English novelist, playwright, and memoirist, internationally known for detective fiction featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.…
Akhmad Kadyrov
in 2001
1 moment here
Chechen Islamic religious leader and politician. Born in Karaganda during his family’s deportation from Chechnya, he studied in Uzbekistan, returned…
Alexander the Great
in 331 BC
1 moment here
Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BCE), known as Alexander the Great, became king of Macedon in 336 BCE and campaigned from the Balkans through the…
Anwar Sadat
from 1938 to 1981
5 moments here
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat was an Egyptian army officer, Free Officer, politician, and president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in 1981.…
Burhanuddin Rabbani
in 1966
1 moment here
Afghan Islamic scholar, Jamiat-e Islami leader, president of Afghanistan during 1992–96 and briefly in 2001, Northern Alliance political leader, and…
Chiang Kai-shek
in 1943
1 moment here
Chinese military commander, revolutionary, and statesman. Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalist government of China through the Northern Expedition,…
Claudia Cardinale
in 1976
1 moment here
Italian-Tunisian actress whose career ranged from postwar Tunis through Italian, French, British, American, and international cinema, as well as…
Dalida
from 1933 to 1976
3 moments here
Dalida, born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was an Egyptian-born Italian-French singer, actress and model.…
Desmond Tutu
in 1989
1 moment here
South African Anglican bishop, theologian, anti-apartheid activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop of Cape Town, and chair of South Africa’s…
Diana, Princess of Wales
in 1992
1 moment here
Diana Frances Spencer (1961–1997) was Princess of Wales from 1981 until her divorce in 1996.…
Dorothy Hodgkin
in 1910
1 moment here
English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin determined major biomolecular structures including penicillin, vitamin B12,…
Edgar Lungu
in 2017
1 moment here
Edgar Chagwa Lungu was a Zambian lawyer and politician who served as Zambia's sixth president from 2015 to 2021.…
Florence Nightingale
in 1850
1 moment here
English social reformer, statistician, and nursing pioneer. Nightingale’s documented movements span childhood homes in England; travel and nursing…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
in 1943
2 moments here
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as New York state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy,…
Gamal Abdel Nasser
from 1924 to 1970
7 moments here
Egyptian army officer, leader of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, and president of Egypt from 1954 until his death.…
Garrincha
in 1960
1 moment here
Manuel Francisco dos Santos, known as Garrincha, was a Brazilian right winger. He spent most of his club career with Botafogo and won the FIFA World…
George H. W. Bush
in 1990
1 moment here
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American naval aviator, oil executive, congressman, diplomat, director of central intelligence, vice president, and…
Gustave Flaubert
from 1849 to 1850
2 moments here
French novelist and major exponent of literary realism, best known for Madame Bovary, Salammbô, Sentimental Education, Three Tales, and his extensive…
Hosni Mubarak
from 1981 to 2020
6 moments here
Egyptian military officer and politician who served as president of Egypt from 1981 until his resignation in 2011.…
Ibn al-Haytham
from 1011 to 1040
3 moments here
Ibn al-Haytham, also known in Latin as Alhazen, was an Iraqi-born mathematician, astronomer, and physicist whose documented life is chiefly…
Ibn Battuta
from 1326 to 1348
2 moments here
Maghrebi Muslim jurist, traveller, explorer, and author from Tangier. Between 1325 and 1354 he journeyed through North and East Africa, the Middle…
Moments
- 2566 BC Burial in the Great Pyramid Khufu
- 1330 BC Residence moved to Memphis Tutankhamun
- 331 BC Stayed at Memphis Alexander the Great
- 25 BC Observation at the Pyramids of Giza Strabo
- 25 BC Visit to Heliopolis Strabo
- 25 BC Visit to Memphis Strabo
- 805 Tax-inspector entourage in Egypt Abu Nuwas
- 807 Return journey to Egypt with tax-inspector entourage Abu Nuwas
- 1011 House arrest and work on the Book of Optics Ibn al-Haytham
- 1021 Residence near al-Azhar after release Ibn al-Haytham
- 1040 Death in Cairo Ibn al-Haytham
- 1047 Arrival in Cairo Nasir Khusraw
- 1049 Return to Egypt after pilgrimage Nasir Khusraw
- 1050 Southbound Nile voyage from Cairo Nasir Khusraw
- 1167 Fights at al-Babein Saladin
- 1324 Arrival and residence in Cairo Mansa Musa
- 1324 Camp by the Pyramids of Giza Mansa Musa
- 1326 Arrives in Cairo Ibn Battuta
- 1348 Stays at Abu Sir Ibn Battuta
- 1383 Arrival in Cairo Ibn Khaldun
- 1401 Return to Cairo after Damascus Ibn Khaldun
- 1406 Death and burial in Cairo Ibn Khaldun
- 1798 Commands at the Pyramids Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1798 Caught outside Cairo during revolt Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1811 Mamluk massacre at the Citadel Muhammad Ali of Egypt
- 1815 Return to the capital from Arabia Muhammad Ali of Egypt
- 1844 Near Eastern tour: Cairo William Makepeace Thackeray
- 1849 Cairo and the Giza-Memphis excursion Gustave Flaubert
- 1850 Journey near Cairo Florence Nightingale
- 1850 Cairo before the Nile voyage Gustave Flaubert
- 1871 Visit to Giza Necropolis Pedro II of Brazil
- 1872 Family journey in Egypt Theodore Roosevelt
- 1907 Winter stay at Gezira Palace Hotel Agatha Christie
- 1910 Birth in Cairo Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1911 Birth in Old Cairo Naguib Mahfouz
- 1921 Convenes Middle East conference in Cairo Winston Churchill
- 1923 Permanent move to Cairo Umm Kulthum
- 1924 Schooling with uncle in Cairo Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1924 Family move to Abbaseya Naguib Mahfouz
- 1929 Music-hall meeting with intellectuals Umm Kulthum
- 1929 Birth in Cairo Yasser Arafat
- 1930 Begins philosophy studies Naguib Mahfouz
- 1933 Birth at the Italian Hospital Dalida
- 1933 Joined father in Cairo Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1934 Graduation and university civil-service post Naguib Mahfouz
- 1935 Student demonstration against British rule Gamal Abdel Nasser
- 1938 Military-college graduation Anwar Sadat
- 1938 Ministry of Islamic Endowments service Naguib Mahfouz
- 1939 Marriage to Princess Fawzia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- 1943 Instructor at Royal Military Academy Gamal Abdel Nasser