Acquaint yourself with history of establishing Egypt’s Postal Office

CAIRO – 2 January 2022: The establishment of the Egyptian Post dates back to the era of Khedive Ismail, when Italian Carlo Merati, who was residing in Alexandria, established a postal administration to exchange letters with foreign countries.

Merati was in charge of distributing letters for a fee, as he transported letters between Cairo and Alexandria.

After his death in 1842, he was succeeded by his nephew, who felt the importance of the project and involved his friend in it. They kept improving the project until they established it on the strongest foundations and called it European Post.

The European Post caught Khedive Ismail’s attention. He bought it on October 29, 1864, and the Egyptian government offered Merati’s nephew the position of general manager of the post.

On January 2, 1865, the ownership of the European Post was transferred to the Egyptian government. This day is considered a historic day for the Egyptian Post and a postal holiday every year.

At first, the Postal Authority was affiliated to the Ministry of Works, and then followed several ministries until December 1865, when it was attached to the General Office of Finance.

Before the establishment of the Egyptian Postal Authority, some foreign countries, based on their privileges, established post offices in Egypt.  England established two offices in 1831, one in Alexandria and the other in Suez, and they were abolished in 1878.

In 1836, France established two offices, one in Alexandria and the other in Port Said, and they were abolished in 1931. As for the Austrian, Greek, Italian and Russian offices, they were all established in Alexandria in the years 1838, 1859, 1866 and 1867. They were all abolished in 1889, 1882, 1884, and 1875, respectively.