Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, GCB, OM, GCMG, KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS (/ˈkroʊmər/; 26 February 1841 – 29 January 1917) was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator.

[4] While on Corfu, Baring became aware of his own lack of education, and began a campaign of self-education, learning Greek and becoming fluent in Italian.

Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, borrowed millions of pounds from European financiers for projects to build the Suez Canal, his personal use, and to cover persistent tax shortfalls.

[1][17][18] Baring's first act as Consul-General was to approve of the Dufferin Report, which essentially called for a puppet parliament with no real power.

Baring thus remained the real ruler of Egypt until 1907, and this arrangement worked well for the first ten years of British control because Tawfiq Pasha was a weak man more than happy to abdicate any governmental responsibility.

With Egyptian finances stabilised by 1887, Baring also compelled the government in Cairo to abandon any pretension of reconquering the Sudan, which Egypt had lost control of following the Mahdist Rebellion.

Baring believed that at some point in the future, British control of Egypt would end, and full independence would be restored, but only once the Egyptian people learned proper self-governance.

The young, ambitious khedive wanted to expel foreign influence and to that end encouraged a nationalist movement, but he had not reckoned with Baring, who quickly intimidated him into submission.

These were led by the young nationalist leader Mustafa Kamil and supported by foreign local elements, especially among the French and Greek communities of Egypt.

[21] Lord Cromer had a negative experience in India, where advanced education led to Indian nationalism that was highly critical of the Raj.

In Egypt Cromer reduced the budget for education, closed many of the specialised postsecondary institutions, and refocused the curriculum on vocational topics.

[22] Baring was embroiled in controversy in both Egypt and Britain in the wake of severe punishments meted out to Egyptian peasants following the 1906 Denshawai Incident, even though he was out of the country at the time and had no direct involvement.

The new Liberal government under Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman decided to adopt a more lenient policy towards Egypt, and Baring, sensing the end was near, offered his resignation in April 1907.

[26][27] Baring held a 'traditional Orientalist' perspective in relation to the East, Egypt in particular, believing Westerners to be inherently superior in every way when compared to Egyptians.

[30] Women and men alike had begun to seek higher education as an opportunity to be eligible for government positions and upward mobility.

[31] Both women's and men's institutions suffered from Baring's new legislation, fuelled by his fear that an educated working class might foster dangerous nationalistic sentiments against the colonial government.

[32][35] Baring's opinions on segregation and the veil in particular went on to influence popular and academic discourse surrounding issues of women and Islam.

[36] Qasim Amin, a French-educated upper-middle class lawyer was deemed one of the first feminists due to his rejection of the veil as oppressive—an opinion grounded largely in Baring's original argument.

[37] Amin's work, influenced by Baring's ideas, served as some of the foundational literature that inserted women and their 'subjugation' in Islam into prominent discourse surrounding colonial rule and westernisation.

[37] Outside of written works, the artist Ya’qub Sanu’a (educated, like Amin, in Europe) drew political cartoons, one of which depicted women representing Egypt, Russia, France, and Britain with the Egyptian woman entirely covered.

[41] A lover of the classics, Baring was very well-read and spoke Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and Turkish, but he never bothered to learn Arabic – the language of the lower classes in Egypt.

During the opening years of the 20th century, a nationalist movement began to appear in Egypt, but Baring, who became increasingly aloof with age, brushed it off as inconsequential.