Hussein el-Shafei

Hussein Mahmoud Hassan el-Shafei (Arabic: حسين محمود حسن الشافعي; 8 February 1918 – 18 November 2005) was an Egyptian military officer who was a member of the Free Officers Movement and served as vice president under two Egyptian presidents, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat. He was one of the nine men who had constituted themselves as the committee of the Free Officers movement and led the country's cavalry corps during the uprising, and was one of only three last-surviving members of the Revolutionary Command Council at the time of his death.

Hussein el-Shafei ON
حسين الشافعي‎
Vice President of Egypt
In office 20 March 1968 – 16 April 1975
President	Gamal Abdel Nasser Anwar Sadat
Preceded by	Ali Sabri
Succeeded by	Hosni Mubarak
In office 16 August 1961 – 30 September 1965
President	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Preceded by	Nur al-Din Kahala
Succeeded by	Ali Sabri
Minister of Defense
In office 17 April 1954 – 31 August 1954
President	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Preceded by	Abdel Latif Boghdadi
Succeeded by	Abdel Hakim Amer
Personal details
Born	(1918-02-08)8 February 1918 Tanta, Sultanate of Egypt
Died	18 November 2005(2005-11-18) (aged 87) Cairo, Egypt
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Egypt Egypt
Branch/service	Egyptian Army
Years of service	1938–1975
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Cavalry
Battles/wars	Second World War 1948 Arab-Israeli War Suez Crisis Six-Day War Yom Kippur War

Early life and education

Born in Tanta in 1918, el-Shafei graduated from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1938.^[1]

Career

El-Shafei was appointed minister of war in 1954 and served as Egypt's minister of labor and social affairs during Egypt's merger with Syria. He served as vice-president under Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1961.

Hussein el-Shafei

During his tenure as minister of social affairs, el-Shafei introduced social insurance reforms considered radical at the time, including pensions to widows. His Winter Charity campaign provided Egypt's poor with basic necessities. Some Egyptian celebrities took part in the "mercy trains" which delivered the goods, including actress Faten Hamama.

Anwar Sadat appointed el-Shafei as vice-president of Egypt's new government in 1971 and he was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak in April 1975.

Death

El-Shafei died on 18 November 2005. Mubarak was among the senior officials at el-Shafei's state funeral.^[1]

Honours

• Egypt: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile

Foreign honours

• Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1965)^[2]
• Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (1965)^[3]

See also

• 1952 Revolution