Joseph Smouha
| Joseph Smouha | |
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Joseph Smouha (January 1 1878 – (September 22 1961) is a businessman and a first-class economist and industrialist, and the dean of the Smouha family. He belongs to the Jews of Baghdad in Iraq. He came to Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century to trade in fabrics. He is credited with establishing Smouha in Alexandria in addition to Smouha SC and many companies.[1]
Family
The Smouha family and the Jewish communities in Egypt played prominent roles before the July Revolution, as they possessed great wealth, occupied a prominent position in the Egyptian economy and monarchy, and established many banks, companies, and factories. The Smouha family was credited with establishing the Smouha neighborhood and the Smouha Sports Club for equestrian practice in Alexandria, which still bears his name and exists to this day. Joseph Smouha married the daughter of the Musiri family, famous for the Egyptian economy in the city of Manchester in England. With the beginning of World War II and the persecution of the Jews, he came to Egypt to escape the Holocaust in Germany and England. He contributed with other Jewish families to many projects, companies, and banks, especially the Musiri family. Joseph was known for his personal friendship with King Fouad I of Egypt, and this contributed to the king's support in establishing many companies and the economy of Egypt. Joseph was famous for his generosity in financing social service projects for the Jewish community, most notably his contribution to the establishment of The Jewish Hospital (currently the Sporting Student Hospital) in Sidi Gaber neighborhood and the Adly Synagogue in Alexandria.
His contributions
Smouha neighborhood
Joseph founded Smouha District in 1924 when he asked the Endowments Authority to take this area in which Lake Hadara is located (it was called Malahat Rajab Pasha) with a usufruct system, but for an open-ended period of life. The area was like a swamp for diseases and not suitable for life, and indeed the Ministry of Endowments agreed and allowed him the right to dispose of this area, although some objected to this argument at the time, but Smouha had a friendly relationship with King Fouad I who facilitated the process of obtaining the land for him, drained the lake, and began the construction of the Alexandrian neighborhood. After the land became his property, he drained Lake Al-Hadra and drew up an organized engineering drawing for this neighborhood. He wanted to pay tribute to the king by naming the neighborhood the city of Fouad, but Fouad refused due to the large number of city names in his name, so the naming changed to its owner, who later bore his name, and the neighborhood attracted many Egyptian Jews when it was established. They rented many buildings there that were distinguished by their wonderful designs and organized streets, which made it initially a residential area for the high society in the city of Alexandria.
Smouha Club
The Smouha Club was founded in 1949, after the establishment of Smouha District and was named after him. Joseph was appointed as the club's first president. He initially founded the club to practice equestrianism and golf, then football was added.
Companies
Smouha has many contributions to industries such as rice milling, sugar refining, and spinning and weaving. After building the neighborhood, Joseph Smouha established a number of service projects, such as the Israeli Hospital and also established the Smouha Equestrian Club, which was one of the largest and most prestigious clubs for equestrian sports in the Middle East until the 1960s, and many international championships were held there. Sabaghi Al-Bayda Company: Founded and managed by the Smouha family
After the July Revolution
After the July Revolution, the Jews in Egypt were subjected to a state of restrictions. Smouha's children immigrated to Britain, leaving behind all the family's property after the nationalization decision, as most Egyptian Jews did at that time.
Land recovery
The Smouha family appeared again in 2014, claiming their right to the Smouha land based on the ownership papers obtained by Joseph, but the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments proved that in 1959, after the Smouha family emigrated, the Egyptian state paid an amount of 27.5 million pounds sterling to Britain in exchange for the Smouha family giving up the land. The Smouha land was then subject to guarding under a joint agreement between Egypt and Britain, and although the matter reached the court to decide on it, it was one of the most famous cases filed by the Jews of Egypt to recover their property, which was registered under No. (146) of 2014 before the Court of Values against the Agrarian Reform Authority, the Minister of Finance, and the head of the Smouha Region Development and Reconstruction Authority, in which they demanded the return of 37 acres of land in the Smouha region to the legal heirs.
See also
Sources
References
- ↑ "Joseph Smouha, Smouha Sports Club, Alexandria Egypt | Archive | Diarna.org". archive.diarna.org. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
Jan Najjar - A Sip of the Nile River p. 45 Alexandria - The Exodus from Egypt Jews of Egypt
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