Youssef Wahba

Who was Youssef Wahba?

Youssef Wahba Pasha Egyptian Prime Minister and jurist.

Youssef Wahba was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1852 of a prominent Coptic family. His father, Wahba Bey had been a founder of the first Coptic charitable society that included Muslim scholars such as Abdallah Nadim and Sheikh Muhammed Abduh. He translated the Code Napoleon into Arabic while at the Ministry of Justice between 1875 and 1882 and participated in setting the modern judicial system in Egypt becoming one of the first Egyptian judges in the Mixed Court of Appeals in 1894.

He later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1912 then Minister of Finance in 1914, a post he held until May 1920. As Minister of Finance, he introduced the first bank notes in Egypt backed by the full faith and credit of the Egyptian Sultanate which bore his signature as Minister of Finance. He became Prime Minister of Egypt in 1919 during a difficult period in Egypt's political life. Many members of the Coptic Christian community to which he belonged, objected to his accepting the premiership on the grounds that it would antagonize the relationship between Muslims and Christians when both were united under the Wafd Party to fight against the British occupation. Youssef always maintained the view that it was critical that a government nominated by the Sultan of Egypt lead the country rather than have the British fully annex it. During his premiership, Youssef Wahba introduced several economic reforms including the removal of price controls on agricultural products, probably a first in the history of Egypt, as well as the creation of the Banque Misr by Talaat Harb Pasha, the first national bank.