Egyptian Women of La Belle Époque

Saturday May 6, 2017
By Alexandra Kinias

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Black and white photos evoke nostalgia to another life that had once been. A life reminisced by older generations who witnessed it firsthand, and envied by the younger ones who watched its elegance in black and white movies, often not believing their eyes.

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Wedding Photo – 1935

Black and white photos depict an era when Egypt was a cosmopolitan country with large French, Italian, British, Belgian, Polish, Greek, Armenian and Levantine communities, to mention a few.

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Mother and Daughter – 1962

All communities played an essential role in the development and enrichment of the country, its economy, culture and arts. In Alexandria alone, Greeks constituted one fourth of the city’s population.

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Cairo – 1951

Egypt was the safe haven for European Jews fleeing the Nazis, just as it was for the Armenians fleeing the Ottoman genocide at the turn of the century. It also welcomed the Greeks expelled from Constantinople at the end of the 19th century.

With their many languages, ethnicities and religions these foreign communities had one thing in common. Egypt was their home. In this diverse society, ethnic and religious tolerance were practiced. Mosques, churches and synagogues adorned the skylines of cities across Egypt.

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Charlotte Wassef – Miss World 1935

They all lived in harmony. Their culture, language, music and food, blended together and weaved the unique tapestry of the society. This uniqueness was reflected in the heritage of the movies, books, music, architecture, fashion and social life that was left behind, and captured in the black and white photos.

This environment was a driving force for women to thrive. In the 1930s Egyptian women were already studying in universities in Great Britain and France at the same time when women could not receive degrees from some German universities.

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Driving License Issued in 1929

In the forties, women were driving cars, flying planes, receiving their PhDs in Egyptian and Western universities. In the fifties and sixties, they were gaining political, economic and social rights and making advances in every sector of the work force.

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7 comments

  1. Egypt was the Gem of the Middle East. It was THE place to live. The Coup of 1952 was the knell of Cosmopolitan Egypt. Nasser loathed minorities, stole every business he could get his hands on. In 15 years, from 1952 to 1967 he bankrupted Egypt with his horrible policies. He was succeeded be Sadat who freed the criminal Moslem Brotherhood, the origin of Daesh. Eventually they killed Sadat and have been attempting ever since to utterly destroy the country. It is a darn shame what happened to Egypt! The Monarchy gave Egypt its Golden Age.

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      • Hi Gabriel. I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, m mom passed away 20 years ago. She knew so many within the Armenian community of Egypt. Do you know if your mom went to an Armenian School in Egypt? That may be one way to find photos of her.

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  2. Hello, I think my mother is in a picture, how should I know who posted it (5 women on the beach / black and white) ,?
    My mum died 15 years ago, her name was Claudine Zaghikian, and it would be great if I could find other pictures of her.

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