He was born in Mimon of Beni Suef, Egypt, where he lived with his father, who was a manager in an arsenal factory.
Dr Harper, the manager of Harmel Hospital in Cairo fostered Gorgi and the family brought him up as a twin brother to their own son who was almost the same age.
He achieved first place in the 11+ exam in Egypt and later joined Medical School, qualifying from Qasr el Eini in 1904.
He was fluent in seven languages: English, French, Italian, Arabic, Greek, Latin and Coptic; he could also read hieroglyphics.
He was married to a French lady, and had no children; he was survived by a wealth of scientific and humanistic studies.