Boghos Noubar (1851-1930)

BOGHOS NOUBAR , Founding President of the AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) As Armenians have lived in Egypt a long time, with the, the Armenian community rightly began to form somehow. ►As of the 10th century, the Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171) created a tolerance policy towards Christianity in the region. ► The history of the Armenian community in Egypt entered a new phase in the early 19th century because of Muhammad Ali, who was proclaimed as the ruler of Egypt as he aimed to liberate Egypt from the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Muhammad Ali and his followers embarked on a whole program of reforms, at the same time giving Christians and Armenians, in general, the opportunity to participate in all this. The contribution of Armenians was tangible. Starting from the first half of the 19th century, Armenians were entrusted with various and administrative national positions. In the middle of the 19th century, Boghos Youssefian (1768-1843) was an Armenian who held executive positions in Egypt as he dedicated the last years of his life by being the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Egypt. In the 1830s, he invited his nephew, Nubar Nubarian, to Egypt as Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, who later became the Prime Minister of the country and one of the most famous political leaders who entered history as Nubar Pasha. Boghos Nubar (1851-1930), being this man's son, is the founder and first president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union. Like his father, Boghos Nubar received his education in a secondary school in France and Switzerland. He continued his education in mechanical engineering in "Ecole Centrale" in Paris, where he worked as a mechanical engineer in France for quite some time after graduation. ►Nubar invented the automatic-plowing-machine capable of breaking the most problematic soil, which won the first gold medal at Paris International Exhibition in 1900 and another gold medal of the Milan Exposition in 1906, as well as the "Olivier de Serres" medal award by the Agricultural Society of France to the foremost agricultural inventor. Returning to Egypt, he served in state institutions for seven years ► (1891/98) as General Manager, Nubar headed the Egyptian Railways. In the following years, Boghos Nubar demonstrated financial and organizational skills upon which he increased the wealth inherited from his father. Until the last days of his life, he enjoyed the trust and respect of the Egyptian authorities for his dedicated work in supporting Egypt's progress. He was awarded the highest orders of the Egyptian "Nile", the Turkish "Mecitie" and the "Ottoman". His personal ties with the authorities are significant. Nubar founded the Iskenderia Tramway, developed the Menzele Land Exploitation Program *( AGBU History, Ed Melkonian page 15-22)