Farouk of Egypt

Farouk of Egypt Full Name: Farouk bin Ahmed Fuad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Muhammad Ali bin Ibrahim Agha Alias: Farouk I Farouk of Egypt Origin: Abdeen Palace, Cairo, Sultanate of Egypt Occupation: King of Egypt and the Sudan (1936 - 1952) Hobby: Collecting coins Going on shopping sprees Throwing parties Goals: Expand his influence throughout the Middle East (failed) Type of Villain: Corrupt Monarch

Farouk I (/fəˈruːk/; Arabic: فاروق الأول‎ Fārūq al-Awwal; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936.

His full title was "His Majesty Farouk I, by the grace of God, King of Egypt and the Sudan. He was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son, Ahmed Fuad, who succeeded him as Fuad II. Farouk died in exile in Italy in 1965.

His sister, Princess Fawzia Fuad, was the first wife and consort of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Under Farouk's rule, over 80,000 Egyptians died of cholera due to Farouk's incompetent government failing to provide uncontaminated drinking water, which also led to many becoming infected with easily-preventable diseases and dying due to lack of accessible healthcare. Farouk also made matters worse by constantly wasting state funds on personal extravagances.

In addition to this, Farouk granted asylum to war criminal Amin al-Hussenini, and allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to grow in prominence. The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood almost lead to Egypt going to war with Israel over the Palestinian Question, although Farouk decided against it in the end.

Farouk also once shot and killed several lions in a zoo after having a nightmare about the animals, and reportedly stole British prime minister Winston Churchill's watch.

Biography

Farouk, the son and successor of King Fuād I, was educated in Egypt and England before ascending the throne in 1936. As king he continued his father’s rivalry with the popular-based Wafd party, with which he clashed over many issues, including administrative functions, appointments, and even the form used for his coronation.

After the outbreak of World War II, Farouk tried to maintain neutrality, despite the presence of British troops in Egypt, but in 1942 the British forced him to name as prime minister the Wafd leader Muṣṭafā al-Naḥḥās Pasha. In October 1944 Naḥḥās negotiated the Alexandria Protocol, a step toward the creation the following year of the Arab League, a regional organization of Arab states. Farouk wanted to place himself at the head of this movement, and he dismissed Naḥḥās, who had lost the support of the British.

Egyptian nationalism suffered from a shattering defeat at the hands of the newly created state of Israel (1948) and from the failure to terminate British military occupation of Egypt. The military defeat especially enraged many Egyptian army officers, who saw Farouk’s corruption and incompetence as being largely the cause of it. His activities became intolerable in 1952, and the Free Officers, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, overthrew his regime in July and forced him to abdicate. He was succeeded by his infant son, Fuād II, but less than a year later Egypt became a republic.