Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Library of Alexandria, launched the project to digitize the papers of the great writer Salah Issa on the Memory of Contemporary Egypt website after its completion.
This came during the celebration held today under the title “Salah Issa’s Papers in Egypt’s Memory” At the Alexandria Library, in the presence of Sayed Abdel-Al; Chairman of the Tagammu Party and member of the Senate, Ahmed Shaaban, member of the Senate, and the guest of honor is the secretary of the debate, the journalist, wife of the late writer.
The symposium was presented by Dr. Sameh Fawzi; Senior researcher at the Library of Alexandria, and supervisor of the Memory of Egypt Project, stressing that the digitization of the papers of the writer Salah Issa represents an important event in the process of the Contemporary Egypt Memory Project, because he is considered a distinguished writer of a high caliber, possessing culture, awareness, science, and encyclopedic knowledge in the historical writing in which he excelled, whether in… In terms of choosing the topics and the language he used, which makes it a model in historical writing for the public, and this is the approach followed by the Memory of Egypt Project, whether the website or the quarterly magazine that bears the same Name.
He said that celebrating the wealth of knowledge that Salah Issa provided to the Arab Library is a tribute to a leftist Egyptian intellectual who chose the opposition from a national standpoint, and who won the appreciation and celebration of the Egyptian state institutions.
Dr. Ahmed Zayed expressed his happiness with the completion of the project to digitize the papers of the late writer Salah Issa, saying, “Today we celebrate one of Egypt’s loyal sons who left deep marks in Egypt’s contemporary history, and a legacy that will always remain in the nation’s memory,” noting that Salah’s papers Issa will decorate the Egypt Memory Project and become part of a library Alexandria".
"Zayed" added The family of the late writer donated his documents to the library, and during the last period the library administration made every effort to finish the task, and given the large number of his papers, which amounted to 92 thousand papers, varied between documents, books, and pictures, it was decided to place them in the Memory of Contemporary Egypt project, and its website, which was established in 2009 and includes many… Of the contents that tell the contemporary history of Egypt.
Zayed stressed, “The path of Salah Issa is worth contemplating in order to fulfill some principles, the first of which is dreaming and going outside the norm. Although he did not study history, he loved it and excelled at it. The second message is perseverance and struggle. He worked until the end of his days as if he were a young man, and the third message is It is necessary to change our view of the countryside, as it is not an inactive, marginal society, but rather every one of its residents has a story of struggle. The fourth message is to take pride in one’s opinion, and finally an important message presented by Salah. Issa, which is cultural openness.
While Sayyed Abdel-Al described the late Salah Issa as an innovator in socialist thought and was not captive to any of the models of thought witnessed in socialist countries, and he believed in democracy and freedom, he was creative even in his political stances and was not surrendering to an idea or function, but he was constantly innovating, stressing If he had lived to this day, he would have continued his principles of fighting Zionism and colonialism, while emphasizing the idea of preserving the state.
Ahmed Shaaban thanked the library for holding the symposium, honoring the late writer, taking care of his archive and papers, and paying attention to many influential figures in the history of Egypt.
For her part, Amina Al-Naqqash explained that she collected the papers of the late writer three months after his death and presented them to the Library of Alexandria, which is an effort by “Issa” Over a period of 42 years, it consists of investigations, investigations, and published articles, which were in the archives of the Ministry of Justice and Interior and among people who were on the list of defendants in cases of Islamic organizations and the Egyptian left, from the 1920s until the new millennium. It is an important part of the history of political movements in Egypt, represented by the religious and leftist movements.
The curator of Naqqash explained that in 2018, she presented these documents to officials in the library administration, who welcomed them and considered them a treasure. After the change in administration, she met with Dr. Ahmed Zayed, who directed the completion of the project.
She confirmed that a biography is longer than a life, and that Salah Issa founded a unique school of writing by transforming the facts of Egyptian history into something dear to the heart, and that she often saw that Salah Issa did not receive the honor he deserved, but today, after honoring the Library of Alexandria, he has received what he deserves.
