Naguib el-Rihani

Who was Naguib el-Rihani?

Naguib el-Rihani was an Assyrian actor. Born in Bab El Shereya, Cairo, Egypt to an ethnic Assyrian father by the name of "Elias El Rihani" who was a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church and worked as a horse expert and trader who eventually settled in Cairo where he met and eventually married Naguib's mother a Coptic Christian lady from Cairo,. He was educated in the French school "Les Freres", in Cairo.

He had a turbulent marriage, with Badia Masabni, a Levantine actress / dancer, who settled in Cairo, and established her famous cabaret, "Casino Badia", and separated before his death. He died at the age of 60 years old in Cairo, of Typhus, while filming his last film "Ghazal Al Banat".

He established his own theatrical group in the late 1910s, in Cairo, and partnered his long-life friend Badeih Khairy, in adapting several French theatre hits, to the Egyptian Theatre, and later to the Cinema.

A great comedian both on stage and in films, he is considered "The Father of Comedy" in Egypt. Fuad Al Mohandes, the great Egyptian comedian of modern times, always acknowledged Naguib Al Rihani's effect on him and his style in acting.