Today marks the 224th anniversary of the founding of the Scientific Academy, by a decision of General Napoleon Bonaparte, commander of the French campaign against Egypt, on August 22, 1798. The complex was established on the shoulders of the scholars of the French campaign, similar to the French Scientific Academy, which is the largest scientific body in France and includes academies. The French Four, whose ancient building still overlooks the Seine, facing the Louvre on the other hand.
The first headquarters of the Scientific Council was in the house of one of the Mamluk gates in Cairo, then it was transferred to Alexandria in 1859 and then returned to Cairo in 1880.
The Scientific Complex is the oldest scientific institution in Egypt after Al-Azhar, which is one of the oldest scientific institutions in the whole world, as it has been in existence for more than two hundred years. Before 1750, and according to the latest statistics of the complex, it contains more than 200,000 rare books and manuscripts, and its library includes forty thousand books, the most prominent of which is the book "Description of Egypt", which is the largest encyclopedia that includes Egypt's history, geography, population, animals, insects and everything related to it.
Scientific complex building
According to the Egyptian Information Service website, the establishment of the Scientific Academy was motivated by two reasons. The apparent reason is to work on advancing science in Egypt, and to research and study historical events, its industrial facilities, and its natural factors, as well as expressing an opinion on the consultations of the leaders of the French campaign. Description of Egypt".
After the French campaign left Egypt, the complex’s work stopped, until Khedive Saeed re-established in 1856 the Egyptian Scientific Academy in Alexandria, and in 1880 the Egyptian Scientific Academy returned again to Cairo, and it was re-divided in 1914 again into the departments of literature, fine arts, and antiquities. and philosophical and political sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, medicine, agriculture and natural history. With the revolution of July 1952, the subordination of the complex was transferred to the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the endowment that was allocated to the complex and the geographical society was withdrawn. On December 17, 2011, the Egyptian Scientific Complex was burnt down during clashes between revolutionaries and security forces during the January 25, 2011 revolution.
The Egyptian Scientific Academy was headed by many figures of science and thought from both Egyptians and foreigners, the most famous of which are Lotfi El-Sayed, Taha Hussein and Ali Mubarak, and among its most famous members of the Egyptians are: the famous traveler Gaston Mahmud El-Falaki Pasha, Yaqoub Artin Pasha, Prince Omar Toson Pasha, Muhammad Magwi Pasha, Ali Ibrahim Pasha and Ahmed Zaki Pasha, Prof. Dr. Ali Mostafa Mosharafa.
According to what was announced by the head of the General Authority of the National Library and Documentation House in the final report on the documents and manuscripts that were rescued from the holdings of the Scientific Academy, that the number of books that the Scientific Academy had is 23 thousand books and 17 thousand volumes of the most important books, the most important of which is the Book Description of Egypt, and it has Annual magazine and special publications. Books chronicling the Crusades, Napoleon's memoirs, as dictated by him, and manuscripts of the Bible, in addition to the fact that there are references that may be unique and there is no other copy of them except in one or two of the world's famous libraries.
Mon, Aug. 22, 2022
