Ahmed Fouad Negm

Lore & Background

Negm was born into a peasant family in a village north of Cairo; his father was a police officer and he was one of seventeen brothers. He studied at Kutaab religious schools run by El-Azhar.

After his father died he stayed with an uncle in Zagazig, then entered an orphanage in 1936, where he met the singer Abdel Halim Hafez. He left in 1945, worked as a shepherd, laboured in English camps while aiding guerrilla actions, and later took a government workshop job. Jailed for 3 years for forging a form, he won a writing contest run by the Supreme Council for the Arts and published his first collection, Pictures from Life and Prison, which made his name.

Reader's Guide

In 1962 a friend introduced him to Sheikh Imam, a blind composer and oud player. Negm moved into Imam's home in Khosh Adam and the two worked together until 1995, Negm writing lyrics, Imam composing, and both singing.

Their songs spread his politics far beyond print. His books include My Country and My Beloved: Poems from Prison (1973) and The Swing (1993). His daughter Nawara Negm became a journalist and human rights activist.

Did You Know?

• In 2007 the United Nations Poverty Action named him Ambassador of the Poor.
• After his prison release he became a regular poet on Egyptian radio.
• His funeral was held at Al-Hussein Mosque in Cairo.
• He died in Cairo at the age of 84.