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Anwar el-Sadat biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Anwar el-Sadat
  • OCCUPATION: World Leader
  • BIRTH DATE: December 25, 1918
  • DEATH DATE: October 06, 1981
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Mit Ab al-Kawm, Al-Minufiyyah governorate, Egypt
  • PLACE OF DEATH: Cairo, Egypt
  • Full Name: Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat
  • AKA: Anwar el-Sadat
  • AKA: Anwar Sadat
  • AKA: Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat
  • AKA: Anwar al-Sadat
  • AKA: Anwar El Sadat

Best Known For

Anwar el-Sadat was the one-time president of Egypt (1970-1981) who shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for establishing peace agreements with Israel.

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Synopsis

Born on December 25, 1918, in Mit Ab al-Kawm, Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat served in the military before helping to overthrow his country's monarchy in the early 1950s. He served as vice president before becoming president in 1970. Though his country faced internal economic instability, Sadat would later earn the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for entering into peace agreements with Israel. He was assassinated soon after, on October 6, 1981, in Cairo, Egypt, by Muslim extremists.

Early Years

Born into a family of 13 children on December 25, 1918, in Mit Ab al-Kawm, Al-Minufiyyah governorate, Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat grew up in an Egypt under British control. In 1936, the British created a military school in Egypt, and Sadat was among the first of its students. When he graduated from the academy, Sadat received a government post, where he met Gamal Abdel Nasser, who would one day rule Egypt. The pair bonded and formed a revolutionary group designed to overthrow British rule and expel the British from Egypt.

Imprisonment and Coups

Before the group could succeed, the British arrested and jailed Sadat (1942), but he escaped two years later. In 1946, Sadat was again arrested, this time after being implicated in the assassination of pro-British minister Amin ?Uthman. Imprisoned until 1948, when he was acquitted, upon release Sadat joined Nasser's Free Officers organization and was involved in the group's armed uprising against the Egyptian monarchy in 1952. Four years later, he supported Nasser's rise to the presidency.

Presidential Policies

Anwar el-Sadat held several high offices in Nasser's administration, eventually becoming vice president of Egypt (1964–1966, 1969–1970). Nasser died on September 28, 1970, and Sadat became acting president, winning the position for good in a nationwide vote on October 15, 1970.

Sadat immediately set about separating himself from Nasser in both domestic and foreign policies. Domestically, he initiated the open-door policy known as infitah (Arabic for "opening"), an economic program designed to attract foreign trade and investment. While the idea was progressive, the move created high inflation and a large gap between the rich and poor, thereby fostering unease and contributing to the food riots of January 1977.

Where Sadat really made an impact was on foreign policy, as he began peace talks with Egypt's longtime foe Israel almost immediately. Initially, Israel refused Sadat's terms (which proposed that peace could come if Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula), and Sadat and Syria built a military coalition to retake the territory (1973). This action ignited the October (Yom Kippur) War, from which Sadat emerged with added respect in the Arab community.

The Real Road to Peace

A few years after the Yom Kippur War, Sadat restarted his efforts to build peace in the Middle East, traveling to Jerusalem in November 1977 and presenting his peace plan to the Israeli parliament. Thus began a series of diplomatic efforts, with Sadat making overtures to Israel in the face of strong Arab resistance across the region.

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