Museum of nationalist who fought for independence

The story of his struggle and patriotism can be seen in the photos and paintings in the museum dedicated to him in the Citadel area.

Museum Agent Sabah El-Sayed told the Egyptian Mail that it was opened in 1956 and Kamel’s remains were transferred here in a majestic military procession from his family’s tomb in the City of the Dead. It was historian Abdel Rahman Al-Rafi’i who called for the establishment of a museum at a cost of LE50,000 paid by the government.

Kamel studied law at Toulouse University, France, in November, 1894. Prior to that, he began working for the liberation of Egypt when he was in secondary school. He issued a monthly school magazine for which he and his colleagues wrote political articles and literary contributions.  In 1900, he founded Al Liwaa daily newspaper in Arabic, English and French.

“These publications and others he founded carried articles informing foreigners in Egypt and abroad about his country’s real conditions and policy,” El-Sayed said.

The mausoleum is in the Islamic style and lies in the middle of the main hall. The shrine is made of marble with some Quran verses written on it in gold. The mausoleum is surrounded by a balustrade in the form of Islamic windows made of black and white marble. A large copper chandelier of an Islamic style hangs from the mausoleum’s dome.

On the walls of the hall on the right are oil paintings depicting the important events in Kamel’s life, such as the Dinshaway incident.

In June 1906, when Egypt was under British occupation, some soldiers went to the village of Dinshaway in Menoufia to hunt pigeons.

Unarmed villagers scuffled with the British hunters to protect their stock. One woman was shot by one of the soldiers. One British officer fled back to camp but he later died of sunstroke.

The next day, the British officers arrested 52 villagers. British and Egyptian judges presided over a summary trial, which found that four villagers were responsible for the outrage and the circumstances which led to the death of the British officer.

The four villagers were hanged. The rest were jailed for life.

Kamel’s continuous struggle contributed to exposing and denouncing the crimes of the British occupation of Egypt in international forums after this incident.

In an article in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 11 July 1906, Kamel wrote: “A tragic affair took place in the Egyptian delta village of Dinshaway, which has managed to emotionally touch humanity in its entirety.”

His article brought international attention to the Dinshaway incident. In the same week, he visited London and translated his article into English and mailed it to MPs, who gave speeches all over Britain recounting what happened in Dinshaway.

The incident led to British consul general of Egypt Lord Cromer to resign in March 1907.

Among the exhibits are a group of pictures of his friends and relatives, including a picture of his mother, accompanied by his two sisters, and a picture of the French author Juliette Adam (1836-1936), who supported Kamel in his struggle against the British occupation of Egypt and was regarded as his spiritual mother.

A big oil painting shows him on his deathbed surrounded by his friends.  Below the painting is Kamel’s office and above it an archive carrying numbers of Al-Liwaa newspaper.

Kamel, whose father was an army officer, was a writer and an eloquent orator. He loved literature. During his education in France, he was acquainted with the forums of thought and culture there. He wrote a play The Conquest of Al-Andalus.

The hall on the left is dedicated to rare photographs and documents of Kamel’s companions and influential Egyptian political figures.