After 30 years in power in Egypt, in 2011 Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by a popular uprising under the Arab Spring. He died this Tuesday at the Galaa military hospital in Cairo. He was 91 years old.
Mubarak’s death was confirmed to AFP by his brother-in-law, General Mounir Thabet. He assured that the funeral will be organized by the Egyptian presidency.
Sentenced to life imprisonment for failing to prevent security forces from killing more than 800 protesters during the popular uprising, he was transferred to Tora prison, on the outskirts of southern Cairo. Images of the once all-powerful Mubarak being tried in court in a kind of cage ran around the world.
In 2017, what was known as the last “pharaoh” in Egypt, was released, having been cleared of most charges.
In January, the former president underwent surgery and his grandson posted a photo with him on Instagram.
Born in a small village in Menofya province, in the Nile Delta, in 1928, Mubarak graduated at the age of 21 from the Egyptian Military Academy. In the same year, in 1949, he transferred to the Air Force.
Already Chief of Staff of the Air Force during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Mubarak became a prominent figure due to the role of Egyptian aviation in the conflict. In 1974, he was promoted to marshal. A year later, he would be chosen for the country’s vice presidency.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Mubarak won three unopposed elections. Only in 2005 did the opposition vote, after intense international pressure.
On February 1, 2011, ten days before the fall of his regime due to the protests in Tahrir Square, Hosni Mubarak said in a speech to the nation that he intended to die in Egypt.
Married to Suzanne Mubarak, he had two children, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak. The latter was, for a long time, spoken of as the most likely successor to his father in leading Egypt’s destinies. Both are being held for manipulating the stock exchange.
A survivor
Over the three decades he was in power, Mubarak was recognized as a survivor in every way, both political and physical, escaping unscathed from at least six assassination attempts.
On October 6, 1981, he was watching a military parade in Cairo alongside Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Sadat would be murdered that day by Islamic radicals. Eight days later, Mubarak, then vice president, became Sadat’s successor.
The military became the face of an authoritarian regime, which the Egyptians viewed for decades as a pharaonic-style dynasty. The rigid and austere style in which he led the country gave Egypt internal stability for years and the privileged alliance it maintained with the United States was a guarantor for the country’s external influence.
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