Masri Effendi

Masri Effendi was a national personification of the Kingdom of Egypt created by Alexander Saroukhan for Ruz al Yusuf in 1930. Masri Effendi is a short man with a fez and sibha along with Western trousers and a jacket glasses, often giving some witty remark over the political situation as a government bureaucract. He represented the effendi, the professional middle class of Egypt during its liberal period. He fell out of favor by the 1952 Egyptian revolution, as his character became archaic for modern Egypt.

History

Masri Effendi was created by Ruz al Yusuf to rival al-Kashkul, a competitor satirical newspaper. Masri Effendi was meant to represent the modern Egyptian man who dressed in western jackets and pants but still wore his fez and carried his prayer beads with pride. The term 'effendi' originally referred to an old Ottoman title, evolved to mean the new nationally conscious society of lawyers, university graduates and small merchants. Later on, Masri Effendi would 'write' weekly columns himself, as Ruz al Yusuf presented him as the real editor of the newspaper. Saroukhan would later draw Masri Effendi in Akher Sa'a, another popular satirical magazine. The story of El-Misri was later depicted a 1949 film directed by Hussein Sedki. He was gradually phased out because his character was not seen as representative of the Egyptian.