Egyptian Youth Groups


Figure 1.--The only Egyptian youth group we have found information about are the Scouts. Many early groups were organized in minority communities (Armenian, Greek, and Jewish). This Egyptian Boy Scout group in 1913 were Armenians at the Kalousdian School in Cairo. Many Egyptian Scout groups were organized at schools. We do not see mosque or church groups.

Egypt is the hear of the Arab world with the largest population. We see some youth groups in Egypt, mostly Scouts, but the movement as in other Arab countries was very small. We have very little information on Egyptian youth groups. It appears to have been limited to the urban middle class. And minority groups (Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and others seem to have embraced the idea more than the aran majority. The only group we have found any information on at this time is the Scouts. The Egyptian Scouting movement was founded about 1912. HBU has unfortunately been able to find virtually no information on Egyptian Scouting. Antonis Benakis, son of a rich Greek cotton merchant and philanthropest Emmanuel Benakis, was the founder of both the Greek boy scouts in Egypt, but also of the Egyptian scouts. We are not sure just when they were founded, but believe it was about 1912. Some Scouting activity has been reported earlier including groups affiliated with the short-lived World Order of Scouting. This group was the earliest World Scouting organisation. The Egyptian Scouts were presumably also influenced by British Scouts as Britain had a strong presence in Egypt until the 1950s because of the Suez Canal. We are unsure to what extent Egyptian Scout groups were integrated. We note a separate Jewish group in 1920. They seem to be a Scout-like group. Egypt is the most populace country in the Middle East and probably has the largest Scout movement in the area.

Boy Scouts

Egypt is the hear of the Arab world with the largest population. It thus has the largest Scout movement in the area. We see some youth groups in Egypt, mostly Scouts, but the movement as in other Arab countries was very small. We have very little information on Egyptian youth groups. It appears to have been limited to the urban middle class. And minority groups (Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and others seem to have embraced the idea more than the aran majority. The only group we have found any information on at this time is the Scouts. The Egyptian Scouting movement was founded about 1912. HBU has unfortunately been able to find virtually no information on Egyptian Scouting. Antonis Benakis, son of a rich Greek cotton merchant and philanthropest Emmanuel Benakis, was the founder of both the Greek boy scouts in Egypt, but also of the Egyptian scouts. We are not sure just when they were founded, but believe it was about 1912. Some Scouting activity has been reported earlier including groups affiliated with the short-lived World Order of Scouting. This group was the earliest World Scouting organisation. The Egyptian Scouts were presumably also influenced by British Scouts as Britain had a strong presence in Egypt until the 1950s because of the Suez Canal. We are unsure to what extent Egyptian Scout groups were integrated.

Jewish Groups

Jews were one of several miniority groups in Egypt. Jews date back to the Roman Supppression of the Jewish Revolt and resulting Diaspora (1st century AD). We note Jewish youth groups in Egypt. Some were associated with the Scouting movement, but we were not sure that all were. We note a Jewish Scout group in 1920. The Baden-Powell lemon-squeezer hats are a sure indicator of a Scouting connection. We notice another Jewish group in the 1950s. They look to be a Scout-like group, but we don't see any badges or emblems so it is diofficult to know just what kind of group it was. They may not have been afiliated with the Scouting association, although we are not sure why. Notice that this was a mixed-gender. This was not very common in Egypt, especially among Arabs. Jewish Egyptians were apprantly more open to both girls participating in youth groups and to mixed gender groups. A factor here is that Jews in Egypt were a mostly urban population. Arab Egyptians were both urban and rural, but virtually all of the Arab Scouts were from urban areas. Here our information is very limited. Arab tolerance for Jews varied over time. Conditions worsened after the First Israeli-Palistinin War in which the Egyptian Army invaded Palestine/Israel (1948-49). Subsequently Egypt seized the prioperty of its Jewish citizns and expelled them.






HBU





Navigate the Historic Boys' Uniform Web Site:
[Return to the Main Middl-East and North African youth group country pages]
[Return to the Main Egyptian activities page]
[Activities] [Biographies] [Chronologies] [Countries] [Essays] [Garments] [Organizations] [Religion] [Other]
[Introduction] [Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Questions] [Unknown images]
[Boys' Uniform Home]




Created: 3:22 PM 7/19/2011
Last updated: 7:47 PM 7/19/2011