From Athens to : The Rise of Modern Sport in

Paul Tchir University of California San Diego, USA

This study uses documents from both the British and Egyptian National Archives to elucidate the lives of several of Egypt's earliest international sporting figures and their contributions to the development of modern sport in Egypt. It argues that by observing, reproducing, and reinterpreting the frameworks of the British model of global sport and its concomitant discourse, as performed by prominent locals of foreign ancestry, Egyptians began to experiment with the different ways in which physical culture could function as an authentic reflection of their own intrinsic identity. The emergence of competing narratives that attempted to express the many perspectives of Egyptian life was the first step in the process of coalescing through sport a unified representation of what it meant to be "Egyptian"

Introduction It may be difficult to imagine that 1896 Olympian Demetrius Casdagli, a British citizen of Rus­ sian origin with a Greek name, was the first in a line of athletes that would influence the develop­ ment of an authentic, indigenous sporting movement in Egypt. Following the 1952 Free Officer Revolution, which effectively ended the seven-decade British political domination in the country, sport1 in Egypt became an essential tool for the new government to promulgate revolutionary culture and nationalist ideology.2 This was due in large part to the indigenous sporting press, which devel­ oped from the 1930s on into a medium through which calls for genuine change and appeals to nationalism could be spread to the general population. According to traditional narratives, however, sport prior to the mid-1 930s in Egypt, particularly during the first decades of British occupation between 1882 and 1920, "propagat[ed] the colonizer's culture under the guise of accessibility and equality, [but] denied the indigenous people true partici­ pation in practice."3 While this description is not inaccurate, it does not capture the rich sporting cul­ ture that was emerging at the local level during this period despite obstacles placed by the British. Several key moments, such as the founding of the Al-Ahly Club in 1907 and football career of Hus­ sein Hegazi, have been acknowledged, but are usually dismissed as inconsequential. This paper, however, argues that these exceptions were indicators of an important pattern of developments, based in a framework of global sport that was "codified and standardized in Britain, then spread to other countries" so that by the mid-twentieth century it had become an "established global supremacy in the realm of physical culture."4 By observing, reproducing, and reinterpreting these frameworks and their concomitant discourse, as performed by prominent locals of foreign ancestry such as Demetrius Casdagli and Angelos Bolanaki, Egyptians were beginning to experiment with the different ways in which physical culture could function as an authentic reflection of their own identity. The emergence of competing narratives that attempted to express the many perspectives of Egyptian life was the first step in the process of coalescing a unified representation of what it meant to be "Egyptian." The formation of a hegemonic notion that used sport to establish a substantive vision of the imagined community of "Egypt" was critical in providing an accessible vehicle for nationalism, one that was seized upon by sports publications run by nationalist-minded members of the "middle class" and, eventually, by the Free Officers after the 1 952 Revolution.

Inauspicious Beginnings Shortly after the British occupation in 1882, Egypt first engaged with its own complex sporting iden­ tity. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) database of Olympic medalists lists only two facts about the runner up in the singles tennis tournament at the 1896 Summer Games: that his name was Dionysios Kasdaglis and that he represented Greece. In both cases, this information is incorrect. With regard to the first matter, his real name, as he spelled it in English, was Demetrius Emmanuel Cas- dagli. The truth behind the second issue is more complex, but if there was one subject on which he and his soon-to-be ex-wife could agree upon during their years of divorce proceedings, it was that Demetrius was not Greek. Nonetheless, in the official reports for the 1906 Intercalated Games (at the time considered to be part of the Olympic Games),5 Casdagli is listed explicitly as Greek. Demetrius was born October 10, 1872 in Salford, England to Emmanuel Casdagli, a naturalized British citizen who had been born in Rhodes, Greece to Russian parents.6 Emmanuel had established himself as a merchant in Manchester in 1 8627 and eventually organized an arm of the business in Cairo, Egypt, where Demetrius moved to in 1 895.8 The following year, the younger Casdagli entered the tennis tournament at the 1896 Summer Olympics, where he won silver medals in both the singles and doubles events. In 1905 he married Jeanne Casulli and, a year later, was back in Athens for an international sporting tournament, where he was eliminated in the first round of the mixed doubles tournament. On November 8, 1914, Demetrius committed adultery and this, along with alleged cruelty during the marriage, became grounds for divorce proceedings the following year.9 As the case unfolded, Demetrius argued that he was not subject to the authority of the British courts in the matter, claiming that he had "acquired domicil [sic]of choice in the British Protectorate of Egypt" and that he and Jeanne were "not domiciled in Egypt and never ... [ had] had a matrimonial home or residence in England."10 It was at this juncture that Jeanne made a critical claim regarding Demetrius' identity. In an attempt to demonstrate that he was a British subject and nothing else, she noted that "[a]t the time of said marriage [1905] my family put forward the suggestion that the Respondent [Demetrius] should become a Greek subject which would have been an easy thing for him to do, but he stead­ fastly declined and has ever since declined to abandon his British nationality."11 Demetrius never denied the assertion that he was not Greek, but continued to argue steadfastly that, for the purposes of the law, he was domiciled in Egypt. By 1919, it was determined that Casdagli possessed a valid claim for having established domicile in Egypt, a decision that had a significant impact in English case law.12 He spent most of the rest of his life in Cairo, although he died in Bad Nauheim, Germany on July 6, 1931, aged 58.13 Attempts to define individuals within the rigid boundaries of national identity have met not only with difficulty, but criticism regarding the utility of engaging in such exercises. Despite the growing tide of nationalism, the Olympic Games, like many of the individual athletes who participated, saw no need to define participants in terms of a "nationality," particularly as the Olympics were founded on the principle of bringing together individuals across political and territorial boundaries. Prior to 1908, "any members of athletic clubs were permitted to represent the country where that club was domiciled, irrespective of their own nationality."14 It is from this perspective that unpacking Casdagli's identity becomes a worthwhile pursuit. Hav­ ing lived most of his adult life in Egypt, Casdagli was a member of the Alexandria Sporting Club and, later, Ifitous Cairo, which, by the standards of the early Olympic Games, would pave the way for a claim that he was the first Olympian from Egypt. While such a contention may seem facile on the sur­ face, it is bolstered somewhat by Casdagli's own assertions during his divorce, ones that, from a legal perspective, later proved to be more than merely trivial.

Sport's Foreign Influences Rather than considering Casdagli as the first Egyptian Olympian, or even an Egyptian at all, he should instead be seen as a microcosm of modern sport's complex origins in his adopted homeland. For much of the period under consideration, "sport" from the British perspective focused almost exclu­ sively on elite pursuits, some of which implied significant barriers to access, as in tennis, , and horse racing. It is this conceptualization of sport that has often been used as a reference point for scholars of Egypt's sporting past, and thus the period prior to 1920 in particular has been largely ignored.15 In reality, however, evidence from the indigenous perspective indicates not only that Egyptians experienced a wide variety of influences on their sporting culture, but that they eventually took these experiences and transformed them into something unique and culturally authentic. As Wilson Chacko Jacob argues in his study of Egyptian masculinity, Working Out Egypt, attempts at imitating colonial discourses of modernity, when repeated over time, vary in their reproduction over the course of these performances and diverge from both the original and other indigenous interpretations.16 In other words, while Egyptians set out at first to mirror British sporting structures within their own coun­ try, over time these attempts resembled the foreign model less and less, particularly as they were influenced by factors other than the original example, and as they were performed by Egyptians with­ out any foreign ancestry. While many of these new forms did not develop until after 1920, their roots can be traced back to influences that emerged prior to World War I. The earliest English references to sport in Egypt focus entirely on horse racing; indigenous sources concur that "the only sporting activity that was celebrated by the Ottomans while they were in Egypt was equestrian, and this because of its importance in the field of warfare."17 An equestrian school was founded in 1830 and, while this was established primarily for the army, it trained its pupils in shoot­ ing and , and sent delegations to France to learn new techniques.18 That children were also well-versed in French games in the 1800s suggests that Napoleon's invasion of the country in 1798 had at least some lasting impact on Egyptian recreation.19 It was, of course, the British occupation of Egypt in September 1882 that had the most enduring impact on the nation's sporting culture. The new administration demonstrated little interest in improving the country's sporting infrastructure, preferring instead to establish a handful of exclusive institutions, such as the famous Sporting Club.20 These clubs engaged in nearly every sport imaginable but, for the most part, the Egyptians themselves were on the outside looking in. The Gezira Club's membership consisted of a large number of wealthy British subjects, a handful of "for­ eigners" of European and Levantine origin, and some token members from the nation's indigenous elite.21 The British interceded somewhat in physical education, which was introduced as part of the Egyptian school curriculum in 1892, but the laws were not followed generally until after World War | 22

In the era prior to 1920, therefore, the British had less of an impact on Egyptian sporting culture than in many of their numerous colonies across the globe. This was in large part due to the political pretense (until World War I) that the British had no official position Egypt. What little engagement with the local elites there was, is best exemplified by Ahmed Mohamed Hassanein, a member of a notable family who was referred to as being "at every stage of life a shining example" of what the Brit­ ish wanted to cultivate in Egypt.23 Praised in a "Personalities" report of the Foreign Office for his "knowledge of English and his charm of manner,", Hassanein was an Oxford-trained tutor and confi­ dant to the future King Faruk, as well as an explorer, statesman, and, of course, sporting figure.24 His aptitude in fencing led to him being entered in the épée and foil events at the 1912 Summer O lym ­ pics but, while he travelled to Stockholm and carried Egypt's flag in the opening ceremony, there is no evidence that he actually competed in the Games,25 as the Official Report lists all entrants regardless of their eventual participation status.26 Thus, while his true impact would have to wait until the 1920 and 1924 Games, where he undeniably competed, he was the first sportsman to hoist Egypt's banner at the Olympics, and thus the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) considers Hassanein as its first

Olympian.27

Although Hassanein may hold that distinction officially,28 there was already an established history of competitors resident in Egypt who had travelled to international athletic tournaments. After win­ ning his two medals in 1896, Demetrius Casdagli returned to what was then considered Olympic ten­ nis in 1906, where he was eliminated in the first round of the doubles event. Arthur Pitt-Marson, a British member of the Egyptian Civil Service and successful local athlete, competed in the five-mile race, as well as the marathon, at these same Games. Another man by the name of Eugenio Colom- bani, about whom little is known, competed in both cycling and wrestling, representing the Egyptian Soc. Palaestra Boccolini club in 1906. In the official report of the Games The latter two men are iden­ tified as having represented Egypt. The most prolific and well-known of all "Egyptian" athletes, Angelos Bolanaki, never competed in the Olympics, but went on to have one of the longest, and more controversial, tenures as a mem­ ber of the IOC. Bolanaki was not only an Egyptian national champion in sprint distance running at the turn of the century, but also excelled at tennis and is considered by the EOC to be Egypt's first international athlete, having taken part in running tournaments in Athens and Izmir in 1 903.29 Fol­ lowing his retirement from active competition, he became a passionate advocate for the development of sport in Egypt and involved himself in nearly every aspect of national sport, from his attempts to get discount railway tickets for athletes travelling to national championships,30 to his role in the founding of a sports stadium in Alexandria.31 He was appointed as the IOC representative from Egypt in 1910, helped found the EOC that same year,32 and even attempted to bring the Olympic Games to Alexan­ dria in 1916.33

Sport and the Egyptians

While sport on the official level was largely limited to athletes of foreign ancestry prior to World War I, Egyptians were not idle in observing, appropriating, and eventually transforming the examples that they experienced. Al-N?dy Al-Ahly Al-Riy??y (The National Sporting Club), allegedly founded by middle class Egyptian dissidents who were barred from foreign club membership, is the most famous example. Although the founding tale has been exaggerated and mythologized over time, the club was established to give Egyptian youth a chance to engage some of the new games that were being intro­ duced, although the original purpose was more concerned with recreation than competition.34 It was not long, however, before the desire to challenge different teams drove a more competitive spirit within Al-Ahly, which led it to become one the most dominant football (soccer) squads from the 1920s on. Prior to that, howeverAl-Ahly made an important contribution to the Egyptian sporting realm by serving as an outlet for the talents of Hussein Hegazi, the nation's first international football star. Like Ahmed Hassanein, Hegazi was born into a wealthy family and, on the surface, led a life that aligned well with British expectations. His obituary in the Egyptian Gazette, one of the first such notices in that publication for an indigenous Egyptian sportsman, observed that he was "a typical example of the sportsman and gentleman."35 Unlike Hassanein, however, Hegazi's performance of the British example varied significantly from the model, largely due to his engagement with sport on a more popular level. Despite his more privileged background, for example, he, like most other Egyptians, learned to play - and love - foot­ ball on the streets of his local neighborhood.36 He attended elite government schools during his youth and excelled in both track and field and football, but did so while building relationships with other Arab Egyptians rather than foreigners.37 He began his higher education at London University and was only recruited to the more prestigious Cambridge University after sports publications began to take note of his prowess.38 During his time there, he became the first Egyptian to earn a full blue, as well as the first to play for an English football club. Such was his skill that, by the time he left England in 1914, he had earned a reputation as the "King of Football."39 As one biography put it, "he was among the most famous names known in England [...] an unofficial ambassador for Egypt [...] in a country that sanctifies sport and honors sportsmen and considers physical education among the greatest pil­ lars of the nation."40 Upon returning to Egypt, after having raised the stature of his homeland abroad, Hegazi commit­ ted himself immediately to improving the state of football among his countrymen. In 1915 he founded a team and named it after himself, recruiting future national squad members such as Hassan 'Al?bah and 'Abb?s ?afwat, and took it on tour throughout the country. By granting the nation's nascent football clubs an opportunity to compete against some better-known players, including the "King" himself, and demonstrating that they could be taken seriously, he helped foster a broader engagement with the sport.41 It has been argued that this tour "was among the factors that interested the public in sport in all of the provinces and [,..was]considered among the reasons for the success of football in Egypt."42 Hegazi later joined Al-Ahly and used his reputation to help shape the club as the "people's team," travelling to three editions of the Olympic Games as a member of the Egyptian national football squad, albeit only playing in 1920 and 1 924. He also led teams in matches against the British occupiers, and his victories, literally beating the English at their own game, became a sym­ bol of resistance and the strength of the Egyptian people.43 Unlike Hassanein, Hegazi drifted away from the British aegis voluntarily and used his influences to transform sport in Egypt so that it could begin to be used to demonstrate the nation's strength to the world, and particularly to its British occupiers. Moreover, as he was an indigenous Egyptian, unlike Bolanaki, he was able to mold the final result into something that was culturally authentic. Hegazi, however, was only the most prominent among the many Egyptians who were embracing football and making it their own game. They established a football culture in the streets that developed rapidly at the turn of the century, and Hegazi's efforts led to some of the earliest successes in turning the once exclusive game against its colonial bearers. As one player who grew up in that era reminisced, when spectators observed their countrymen taking on their occupiers in football - and even beating them at their own game - it came to take on a new meaning, and soon everywhere became a potential space for footballers to train, practice, and develop.44

Conclusion

After the 1 919 Revolution, many of Egypt's oldest clubs, such as Al-Sikkah Al-?ad?d and Al-Mukhta- la?, previously managed by foreigners, fell into indigenous hands. This, combined with decades of practice and passion for the sport, helped Egyptians field an experienced squad at the 1920 Summer Olympics. In his report to the Sultan about the Games, Bolonaki, acting as the head of the mission for the Egyptian delegation, told of the positive reception the team received from the European audi­ ences: "[T]he Egyptian team, after a very lively game, although beaten by two goals to one, was much applauded for its repeated attacks, its beautiful passes, and its overall game."45

In addition to the football team, as well as Hassanein in his actual Olympic debut, Egypt sent two track and field athletes, two gymnasts, one weightlifter, and one wrestler to the 1920 Games. Of them, Bolanaki noted that they "represented the Egyptian Nation very well and were repeatedly admired and applauded by the public. The result of the participation of these few athletes will be of great use for the future development of sports education in Egypt."46 While the competitors them­ selves were Egyptian, the heads of the federations that sent them were not. Many of the relevant orga­ nizations were located in Alexandria, affiliated with Bolanaki, and indigenous involvement did not occur until the 1 920s and beyond. One can only speculate, therefore, what influences individual Egyptians involved with these federations might have experienced.

These fledgling intersections between sport, identity, and nationality founded channels that would eventually allow ideologies access to a large audience in a seemingly apolitical fashion and carved out an experimental realm in which different visions of what it meant to be "Egyptian" could attract adherents, compete, ultimately synthesizing to produce a narrative of independence behind which a majority could rally. The multifarious origins of modern sport in Egypt prior to 1920, there­ fore, were critical in coalescing the ideal of a "sportsman" that transcended sectarian, ethnic, and class differences and represented the nation on the world stage at the Olympics and beyond in the 1 920s and 1930s. This unified vision became both popular and accessible for the editors of sports periodicals to use in boosting the idea of an independent Egypt and, when World War II presented them with an opportunity, they utilized it to depart from the hegemonic narrative of the British occu­ piers and make their own contribution to the nationalist movement that culminated eventually in the Free Officer Revolution of 1952.

Figures like Casdagli and Bolanaki built upon foundations laid by the British and took advantage of the occupiers' disinterest in taking the helm of Egyptian sport, allowing more privileged Egyptians such as Hassanein and Hegazi to take part at previously unseen levels. Yet while Hassanein limited himself to mimicry and endeared himself to the British, Hegazi eventually broke ranks and took his performance to the people, beginning the process of transforming the movement into something cul­ turally authentic. A pioneer, Hegazi was only the most prominent of many Egyptians who engaged modern sport and provided a pathway for their countrymen to take these ideas and make them their own after the 1920s. In doing so, they helped modern sport complete the long journey from Athens to Cairo. Endnotes

1 "Sport" should be conceptualized as referring to a broad range of organized activities requiring physical exertion. 2 Di-Capua, Yoav. "Sports, Society, and Revolution: Egypt in the Early Nasserite Period," in: Rethinking Nasserism: Revolution and Historical Memory in Modern Egypt, eds. Elie Podeh, Onn Winckler. (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2004), 146. 3 Ibid., 147 4 Keys, Barbara J. Globalizing Sport. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 18. 5 Mallon, Bill. The 1906 Olympic Games - Results fo r All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. (London, UK: McFarland & Company, 1999), 5. 6 J 77/1238/7705, 1917, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Greater London, England, UK 7 The Manchester Commercial List. 1873-1874. Seventh and Eighth Years. (London, UK: Estell & Co., 1873), 48. 8 J 77/1238/7705, 1917, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Greater London, England, UK 9 FO 841/153/16, 1915, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Greater London, England, UK 10 J 77/1238/7705, 1917, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Greater London, England, UK 11 Ibid. 12 Yen, S. T., and K. N. L. "Acquisition of Domicil in Extraterritorial Countries." The Yale Law Journal 28, no. 8 (June 1919), 810-817. 13 "Deaths", The Manchester Guardian, July 7, 1931, 18 14 Mallon, Bill and Ian Buchanan. The 1908 Olympic Games - Results fo r All Competitors in All Events, with Commen­ tary. (London, UK: McFarland & Company, 2000), 17. 15 Although not entirely; scholars such as Shawki El-Zatmah and Shaun Lopez have contributed to thoughtful re-ex­ aminations of Egypt's early sporting history 16 Jacob, Wilson Chacko. Working out Egypt: Effendi Masculinity and Subject Formation in Colonial Modernity, 1870­ 1940. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011), 5-6. 17 Ibrahim, Hilml Muhammad. Tatawur al-riyâdah wa al-tarwïh (The Development of Sport and Recreation). (Cairo, Egypt: Maktabat al-anglü al-Misriyah, 1959), 182. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid., 183 20 Ibid. 21 Di-Capua, "Sports, Society, and Revolution", 146 22 Ibrahim, "Tatawur al-riyadah wa al-tarwih", 184. 23 FO 141/1223, 1947, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Greater London, England, UK 24 FO 371/45925, 1945, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond,Greater London, England, UK 25 Private Papers of the Organization of the Olympic Games, 1930-1934, ‘âbdln, 0069-004116, Dar Al-Kotob wa Al- Wathaiq Al-Qawmiyah (Egyptian National Library and Archives), Cairo, Egypt 26 Mallon, Bill and Ture Widlund. The 1912 Olympic Games - Results fo r All Competitors in All Events, with Commen­ tary. (London, UK: McFarland & Company, 2002), 59. 27 Amer, Hassan Abbas. Egyptian Olympic Committee -1 0 0 Years. (Cairo, Egypt: Egyptian Olympic Committee, 2010), 105. 28 And incorrectly, for if Hassanein's 1912 appearance is discounted, then Ahmad Abbas Khairy, who competed on the first day of the athletics tournament in 1920, would be the first Egyptian Olympian 29 Amer, "Egyptian Olympic Committee", 25 30 Bolanachi, Angelos, Letter from Union International des Sociétés Sportives D'Egypte to the Ministry of Communi­ cations, 1923, 'abdin, 0069-004110, Dar Al-Kotob wa Al-Wathaiq Al-Qawmiyah (Egyptian National Library and Ar­ chives), Cairo, Egypt 31 Private Papers Relating to the Founding o f the Alexandria Stadium, 1909-1917, 'abdin, 0069-011576, Dar Al-Kotob wa Al-Wathaiq Al-Qawmiyah (Egyptian National Library and Archives), Cairo, Egypt 32 Amer, "Egyptian Olympic Committee", 25 33 Private Papers Relating to the Founding of the Alexandria Stadium, 1909-1917, 'àbdïn, 0069-011576, Dàr Al-Kotob wa Al-Wathàiq Al-Qawmïyah (Egyptian National Library and Archives), Cairo, Egypt 34 Ibrahim 184-185 35 "Hussein Hegazy Dies: 72", The Egyptian Gazette, October 10, 1961, 2 36 Faraj, Al-Sayyid. Kabtin Masr: Hussayn Higazy (Captain Egypt: Hussein Hegazi). (Cairo, Egypt: Maktabat al-anglu al- Misriyah, 1956), 15. 37 Ibid., 24-27 38 Ibid., 33 39 Ibid., 36-37 40 Ibid., 14 41 Ibid., 42-43 42 Ibid., 42 43 Faraj, “ Kabtin Masr", 51 44 “Ar-riyadah Mundh Rubu' Qarn" (Sport a Quarter-Century Ago), Al-abtal (The Champions), January 14, 1933 45 Bolanachi, Angelos, The Seventh Olympic Games, 1920, 'àbdïn, 0069-004108, Dar Al-Kotob wa Al-Wathàiq Al-Qa- wmïyah (Egyptian National Library and Archives), Cairo, Egypt 46 Ibid.