The Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate announced today, Thursday, the death of Muhammad Abdel Jawad, the Sheikh of Egyptian journalists and the press advisor to the late Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar Sadat, at the age of nearly 100. The Secretary-General of the Syndicate, Jamal Abdel Rahim, mourned the deceased on his Facebook page, stating: "Egyptian and Arab journalism has lost the great journalist Mr. Muhammad Abdel Jawad Mansour, the Chairman of the Board of the Middle East News Agency and a former Deputy of the Journalists Syndicate after a long and rich journey of service in the press that lasted nearly 77 years."
Abdel Rahim noted that Abdel Jawad was born on February 10, 1924, in Sohag Governorate, and received his degree in literature, English department, from Fouad I University (currently Cairo University) in 1947. In the early stages of his career, he worked as an editor for several international news agencies, including Reuters and Agence France-Presse. He also worked briefly for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as a press attaché in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He participated in the founding of the Middle East News Agency, which became Egypt's first official news agency in 1956, and served as its editor-in-chief and then as chairman from 1966 until 1984. He was known for his close relationship with President Anwar Sadat, who appointed him as a press advisor at the presidential institution, accompanying the former president on many of his foreign trips. Abdel Jawad received the "Order of the Republic" of the first class and was a member of the Shura Council from 1981 to 1987.
