Safaa Hegazy Maspero’s first lady passes away

CAIRO –28 May 2017: Rest in peace Maspero’s first lady. The chairmen of the Radio and Television Union, the famous TV presenter, Safaa Hegazy passed away on Sunday after suffering from a dreaded disease. Her audience are definitely going to miss her melodious voice and her serious, intimate look on the screen.

She was named Maspero’s first lady and the iron woman in the Egyptian television. Hegazy graduated from the Faculty of Commerce, Mansoura University in 1984, and started her career as a radio presenter. She succeeded in the Egyptian Radio station tests after holding an interview with the Egyptian prime minister at that time Atef Sedki.

Later, she presented a program with the great poet Kamel al-Shennawy and the famous journalist Mustafa Amin on the biography of the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum.

She began her journey as a TV presenter in the Egyptian television with the launch of the Egyptian satellite in 1990. Directly after joining the Egyptian Television, Hegazy traveled to cover the Gulf War, providing a detailed professional coverage that proved her more efficient.

Hegazy was famous by presenting her booming program "House of Arabs", which for 20 years has been one of the most important political dialogue programs in which she interviewed the kings and Arab countries’ presidents.

In 2008, Hegazy suffered a disease that prevented her from appearing on television for one year, causing her to lose more than twenty kilograms. In 2013, she was appointed head of the news sector in succession to Ibrahim al-Sayyad, to become the first woman to claim this position.

Hegazy received many honors; in 2015, she was honored by Mohab Mamish the Chairmen of Suez Canal Authority for her efforts in the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal.

Hegazy has been recently suffering from a health problem and was hospitalized for few months. Later, she traveled for treatment and returned to work again, until she passed away this morning.