Statue of Sir Magdi Yacoub unveiled in Aswan

CAIRO – 28 November 2019: Residents of Aswan governorate, Upper Egypt, unveiled a statue of Egyptian-British Sir Magdi Yacoub, one of the most famous cardiothoracic surgeons in the world, at a square named after him.

At a big celebration attended by Sir Yacoub, outgoing Aswan Governor Ahmed Ibrahim and dozens of locals and officials unveiled the statue in gratitude to Sir Yacoub for his pioneering role in Cardiac surgery and for choosing Aswan to build Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation.



Sir Yacoub expressed his gratitude to all Egyptians, and said “I am so proud to be an Egyptian citizen.”





Sir Magdi Yacoub among Egyptian residents and officials unveil the new statue was erected as tribute to - Egypt Today/Duha Saleh


The statue is the work of artist Mohsen Selim, a professor at the school of Sculpture in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Assiut University.



On his official Facebook page, Selim said that finally after more than a year of waiting, the statue of Yacoub, who draws smiles on millions of poor people's faces, was unveiled. He also paid gratitude to Assuit University professors and students.




Sculptor Mohsen Selim is erected a statue of Sir Magdi Yacoub- photo courtesy of the Sculptor's Facebook account



Sir Yacoub founded the Chain of Hope foundation in 1996, which serves as the bridge connecting experts who provide life-saving heart treatments to children in developing countries.

In an interview with Egypt Today in September 2019, Sir Yacoub said that the foundation stone of a heart center in Cairo will be laid soon, adding that the inauguration ceremony of the Cairo center will be held in January 2020.

Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Foundation launched a campaign in May to raise fund for the new center.

Yacoub was among the first three surgeons to perform an open heart surgery in Nigeria in 1974. In 1986, he was a part of the team that developed the techniques of the heart-lung transplantation at the National Heart and Lung Institute.

He also led a British research team at Harefield hospital in 2007 to grow a part of the human heart using stem cells. These efforts were all exerted in order to overcome the shortage of transplant heart donations.

Some of his highly notable awards include an Order of Merit and a Knight bachelor from Queen Elizabeth II. He also received an Order of the Nile, which is Egypt's highest state honor.

Additional reporting by Maria Fahy and Fatma al-Bakry