Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed or Aḥmad Luṭfī Sayyid Pasha (IPA: [ˈæħmæd ˈlotˤfi (ʔe)sˈsæjjed]) (15 January 1872 – 5 March 1963) was a prominent Egyptian nationalist, intellectual, anti-colonial activist and the first president of Cairo University.
He was an influential person in the Egyptian nationalist movement and used his position in the media to strive and gain an independent Egypt from British rule.
[2] After graduating from law school, Lutfi entered the legal department of government services and worked there until 1905, then under the British administration of Lord Cromer.
The Denshawai incident was a violent clash that occurred in June 1906 between Egyptian peasants in the village of Denshaway and British officers who were pigeon hunting in the area.
The British had occupied Egypt in 1882 and deployed troops to help put down the Urabi Rebellion, an Egyptian constitutionalist movement.
As editor-in-chief of Al Jarida, Lutfi was able to spread word of the incident quickly, including news of the villagers who had been put on trial.
Lutfi's earlier work with Al Jarida helped his cause from the numerous writings he published in the paper along with his gaining support upon the Denshwai incident.
[8] Lutfi introduced the Arab public to the ideas of British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill and his definition of liberalism.
He was considered one of the first Egyptian officials to introduce Mill's works and reading to the general Arab public so they could educate themselves on concepts of liberalism.
He was a staunch proponent of anti-colonialism and the negative effects it has on countries, which is what led to him being such an active member of the anti-British involvement in Egypt.
He was a member of the Egyptian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference held in Versailles in 1919, where he pleaded for the independence of Egypt from Britain.
Lutfi saw Egyptian nationalism as the direct result of historical and environmental factors, which is why he was against pan-Islamic, pan-Arab, and pan-Ottoman ideologies.