The BA organized a celebration to commemorate the publication of the first issue of Al-Ahram Newspaper in Alexandria, which took place 144 years ago. Dr. Moustafa Elfeki, Director of the BA, stressed the important role of Al-Ahram Newspaper in generating some of the most distinguished Egyptian writers and intellectuals such as Tawfiq Al-Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, among others.
The celebration was attended by a number of prominent figures in journalism including Mr. Makram Mohamed Ahmed, Head of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Mr. Karam Gabr, Mr. Abdel Mohsen Salama, and Mr. Alaa Thabet, Editor-in Chief of Al-Ahram Newspaper. The event also witnessed the participation of Novelist Youssef Al-Qaid, Moufid Fawzy, Writer Amina Shafik, Dr. Soliman Abdel Moneim, Salah Montasser and Osama Al-Ghazaly Harb.
Dr. Elfeki said that the BA received yesterday all the documents of Journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, one of the prominent figures of Al-Ahram, and would soon embark on their digitization to make them accessible to the public.
It is worth mentioning that the celebration highlights the role of Al-Ahram in enriching the Arab and Egyptian cultural life throughout history, in addition to the artistic and literary creativity of Alexandria, which paved the way to the establishment of journalism in Egypt.
Al-Ahram Newspaper was first published in four pages, on Saturday, 5 August 1876 in Alexandria, by the Lebanese brothers, Beshara Takla and Saleem Takla. It started out as a weekly newspaper until it became one of the leading press institutions in Egypt and the Arab world.