Cultural life under Isma'il

02Cultural life under Isma'il

• The abolition of monopoly had negative effects on cultural life, but it flourished under Isma'il: the way opened for a varied cultural movement with a strong effect on building Egypt's cultural personality.

Societies and institutions

• The Society of Knowledge (Ma'arif, 1868): to spread culture by authorship and publication through public subscription; it printed a group of classic books in history, jurisprudence and literature.
• The House of Books (Dar al-Kutub, 1870).
• The Geographic Society (1875): to care for geographical research.
• The Islamic Charity Society (1878): to found special schools for the education of boys and girls and to aid the poor, with the aim of confronting the excess of the foreign schools that had spread in Egypt.

The press

• He worked to found scientific, literary and political newspapers and granted the press freedom of writing — especially late in his reign, when he clashed with European ambitions and felt the weight of foreign intervention.
• The newspapers deserve credit for enlightening minds and spreading sciences and knowledge; some foreign-language newspapers also appeared.

Results

• The level of public service rose, since posts were filled by graduates of the schools and institutes and by returned mission members; the environment suited the emergence of scholars in various specialisms.
• Because foreigners and their institutions were numerous, there arose a general tendency to imitate Europeans in way of life, dwelling, dress and food.