Celebrations in Egypt and France Marking 200 Years of Egyptian Educational Missions to France
Monday 26/October/2026 - 10:18 PM
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first Egyptian educational mission to France in 1828, the French Institute in Alexandria is organizing a lecture by Dr. Ahmed Youssef, a lecturer at Sorbonne University and a member of the Institut d’Égypte (Egyptian Scientific Institute). Entitled “Prominent Figures of the First Egyptian Educational Mission to France,” the lecture will take place on October 29 of this year, under the patronage of Ms. Lina Blin, Consul of France in Alexandria.
Al-Ahram newspaper is also organizing a lecture by Dr. Ahmed Youssef entitled “The Descendants of Rifa'a al-Tahtawi: Two Hundred Years of Egyptian Modernity.” The lecture will be introduced and discussed by the distinguished writer Mohamed Salmawy and attended by a distinguished gathering of thinkers, intellectuals, and individuals interested in Egyptian-French relations. Among the prominent attendees will be Ambassador Alaa Youssef, Chairman of the State Information Service; former ministers Dr. Hany Helal and Dr. Emad Abu Ghazi; as well as Ali Adham and Ismail Mazhar, grandsons of Mostafa Bahgat and Ismail Mazhar, respectively, who were members of the first Egyptian mission.
It is worth noting that Dr. Ahmed Youssef will also deliver a lecture at the Alexandria Yacht Club on November 29, focusing on his latest book, “Bonaparte’s Spies in Egypt.”
The Egyptian Embassy in Paris is likewise organizing a symposium to commemorate the bicentenary of Egyptian educational missions to France. The event will take place at the embassy’s headquarters on November 20, under the patronage of Ambassador Dr. Tarek Dahroug. Speakers will include Dr. Ahmed Youssef and the distinguished French scholar Patrice Bret, a professor at the École Polytechnique and a specialist in the history of Edme Jomard, the French scholar who supervised the Egyptian educational missions in France during the reign of Muhammad Ali.
