Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi was born on 19 November 1954 in Cairo. He is a former military officer who became Egypt’s sixth president in 2014. In August 2012, after the 2011 revolution and the election of Mohamed Morsi—the country’s first democratic leader—Sisi was named Minister of Defense and head of the armed forces, taking over from Hussein Tantawi. Widespread protests against Morsi’s rule led Sisi to orchestrate a coup on 3 July 2013, removing Morsi from power. This triggered demonstrations and sit-ins by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and pro-democracy activists. Under Sisi’s orders, security forces violently cleared two protest camps in Cairo—one at al-Nahda Square and a larger one at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. The crackdown, known as the Rabaa massacre, killed an estimated 800 to over 1,000 protesters and led to nearly 19,000 arrests. Human Rights Watch called these events crimes against humanity, drawing international condemnation.

Sisi was sworn in as president in June 2014 after winning that year’s election. In the 2018 and 2023 elections, he faced little competition because other candidates were barred or boycotted the votes amid repression. Most independent observers consider Sisi a dictator. He runs an authoritarian government that, according to Human Rights Watch, “relies on naked coercion and the military and security services as his main vehicles of control.” Some analysts say his rule is even harsher than that of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former authoritarian leader. In 2024, Egyptian citizens and activists launched an online “Dignity Revolution,” sparking widespread anti-government protests. Sisi’s government responded with a heavy crackdown, arbitrarily detaining hundreds. Analysts have described Egypt under Sisi as “The Sick Man of the Middle East,” citing his fragile grip on power and the country’s economic troubles.

Sisi grew up in Cairo’s Gamaleya district, near al-Azhar Mosque, in a mixed neighborhood of Muslims, Jews, and Christians. He later recalled hearing church bells and seeing Jews go to synagogue freely as a child. He attended the Egyptian Military Academy, then held various command roles and served as military attaché in Riyadh. He studied at the Egyptian Command and Staff College in 1987, the British Command and Staff College in 1992, and the U.S. Army War College in 2006. During the 2011 revolution, he was the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and served as director of military intelligence. On 12 August 2012, he replaced Mohamed Hussein Tantawi as defense minister and commander-in-chief.

His family roots are in Monufia Governorate. He is the second of eight siblings. His father, a conservative Muslim who later had six more children with a second wife, ran an antiques shop in Khan el-Khalili. Sisi and his siblings studied at al-Azhar University’s library. Unlike his brothers—one a senior judge, another a civil servant—Sisi attended a local army-run secondary school. There he met his maternal cousin, Entissar Amer, whom he married after graduating from the military academy in 1977. His military education included courses at the Egyptian Command and Staff College (1987), the UK’s Joint Command and Staff College (1992), Nasser Military Academy (2003), and the U.S. Army War College (2006). He also served as military attaché in Riyadh and took a basic infantry course in the United States.

Sisi was commissioned as an officer in 1977, specializing in mechanized infantry, anti-tank warfare, and mortar warfare. He became commander of the Northern Military Region in Alexandria in 2008 and director of military intelligence in 2010, before Morsi appointed him defense minister in 2012. As a SCAF member, he made controversial comments about forced virginity tests on detained female protesters, telling a state newspaper the tests were done “to protect the girls from rape, as well as to protect the soldiers and officers from rape accusations.” He was the first SCAF member to admit the tests occurred.

His main command posts included: Commander of the 509th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Chief of Staff of the 134th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Commander of the 16th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division, Chief of Staff of the Northern Military Zone, Deputy Director and later Director of Military Intelligence, and reportedly commander of the 23rd Mechanized Division of the Third Field Army.