Mohamed Abdul Khalek Hassouna

Mohamed Abdulkhalek El Sayed Hassouna was an Egyptian-Palestinian diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the Arab League

Life and career

Born in Cairo in 1898, Abdel-Khalek Hassouna was the grandson of Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Hassouna El-Nawawi, who hails from the noble Hassouna family. He obtained a degree in law in 1921. Hassouna Pasha as he was later known obtained his masters and doctorate degrees in economics and political science from the University of Cambridge in 1925, where he was a member of Magdalene College. He joined the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1926 and served at the Egyptian embassies in Berlin, Rome, Prague and Stockholm.
Hassouna was the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Social Affairs between 1939 and 1942. He served as governor of Alexandria from 1942 to 1948, during which time the University of Alexandria was completed. He served as social affairs minister between 1949 and 1952 and then minister of education and foreign affairs in 1952.
He succeeded Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam at the Arab League in 1952 and served for the next 20 years. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Riad in 1972, and died on 20 January 1992.