Samy Kamaleldeen

Samy Kamaleldeen is an Egyptian journalist, media professional and writer specialising in political criticism. A graduate in journalism and mass communication, he has published works across politics, culture, thought and fiction while living and working in several countries.

He devoted his free time to reading, drawing and early attempts at fiction that remained unpublished but substantially developed his ability as a writer. Even within modest surroundings, that stimulating intellectual life helped form a resilient character capable of making consequential decisions with confidence and courage.

During childhood, the imam of the village mosque, Sheikh Ismail Muslim, became a trusted adviser and guide. Reading was his window onto other worlds and shaped an outlook in which realism, romanticism and imagination could coexist. His formative authors included Muhammad Al-Ghazali, Fyodor Dostoevsky and the poet Nizar Qabbani.

He attended Al-Salamna Primary School, Al-Habilat Al-Sharqiya Preparatory School and Abu Tesht Secondary School. By the time he completed secondary education, he had already chosen the media as his field. He entered the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication in the Faculty of Arts at Sohag University. University life brought wide-ranging experience under specialist lecturers, together with training workshops in Sohag, Qena and Cairo.

These varied opportunities allowed him to accumulate experience quickly and establish a place in journalism while still young, becoming one of the field's notable emerging figures.

One of his most important assignments was as editor-in-chief of “Downtown”, a youth-oriented social and arts magazine covering local affairs and the concerns of younger readers. The two-year experience began in 2008. He trained new journalists, created opportunities for young voices and learned the practice of leadership. The magazine was a lively and rewarding project, although financing an independent publication brought persistent obstacles.

In 2010, he became editor-in-chief of “Al-Malika”, a cultural and arts magazine with a strong position among general-interest publications. The role broadened his perspective and marked a further stage in his professional development.

His honours included first prizes from the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate in 2003 and 2006. He was also one of 75 journalists selected from 500 applicants for the first Mohamed Hassanein Heikal Foundation programme, supervised by the American journalist Seymour Hersh. After passing a month-long second programme, he and ten colleagues were chosen from a group of twenty-five for a scholarship to study journalism in London.

In recent years, he intensified his literary work, drawing inspiration from the society around him. “The Night the President Fell: Tahrir Diaries” recounts Hosni Mubarak's final eight hours in the presidential palace alongside the author's own record of Tahrir Square. It was followed by “The Forbidden Press”, which attracted a wide readership. Later publications included the novel “On the Pavement of Istanbul”, issued in Arabic, English and Turkish; “Conversations with Heikal”; and “The Women of Naguib Mahfouz”.

His path began amid considerable hardship. Born into a poor family in southern Egypt and lacking personal connections in journalism, he resisted pressure from his maternal great-uncle, the village mayor, to abandon the profession for the police, military or Public Prosecution. He travelled from Upper Egypt to Cairo, worked for small newspapers and supported himself through manual and service jobs, including assisting plasterers and tile setters and working in restaurants and vehicle-repair workshops. Prominent writers such as Sanaa Al-Baisi, Mahmoud Al-Saadani and Mohamed Hassanein Heikal came to believe in his talent. Reporting from villages, hamlets and neighbourhoods, he worked day and night on investigative stories. Early awards led to positions at Nisf Al-Dunya and then Al-Ahram. During those formative years, he also developed friendships with leading political, intellectual and artistic figures, among them Mahmoud Amin Al-Alam, Salah Al-Saadani, Abdel Rahman Al-Abnoudi and Adel Imam, and went on to write dozens of works in politics, literature and fiction.