Victoria College, Alexandria

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Victoria College
140px
Cuncti Gens Una Sumus (Latin)
Together We Are One
Location
Alexandria
Egypt
Information
Type Private
Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education
Established 1902; 122 years ago (1902)
Director Hanaa EL-Sayed
Language English
Newspaper The Victorian

Victoria College, Alexandria, (Arabic: كلية فيكتوريا‎‎) was founded in 1902 under the impetus of the recently ennobled Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer of the Barings Bank, that was heavily invested in Egyptian stability. For years the British Consul-General was ex officio on the board of Victoria College. The new college was to raise the standard of Imperial education and free it from the influences of the madrassas and the ubiquitous Jesuits, both of whom made the British foreign office uneasy. Among prominent subscribers to the project were members of the prominent internationalized Jewish and Maltese minority in Egypt including members of the Egyptian Royal family.[citation needed] Prior to the 1930s establishment of Baghdad College, members of the upper class of Baghdad sent their children to Victoria College.[1]

During World War II, many displaced European royals and nobles were added to the student body:

" As the situation worsened north of the Mediterranean, scions of European monarchies expanded the student body further so that Romanovs, Saxe-Coburgs, Hohenzollerns, Zogos and Glucksburgs rubbed shoulders with the Hashemites, Mahdis and al-Sharifs. While most were treated like regular students some stood out because of restrictions imposed upon them. The Albanian royals, the Zogos, for instance, were constantly trailed by massive bodyguards, which is perhaps why they did not last long at Victoria. Years later, many among the Arab elite students would meet again this time as major players in rising petrodollar economies." (Samir Raafat)

The British Imperial-outpost phase of Victoria College ended abruptly in 1956, the year that began with the dissolution of Anglo-Egyptian cooperation and saw the Suez Crisis in October. The entire British faculty was fired.

But the College continues to this day. At Victoria College on El Iqbal Street, Former Bulgarian King and Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha attended classes along with schoolmates such as King Hussein of Jordan, Zaid Al Rifai, the Kashoggi brothers (whose father was one of Saudi King Abdulaziz's physicians), Kamal Adham (who ran the Saudi external intelligence directorate under King Faisal),[2] scholar Edward Said, present-day Saudi businessmen Mohammed Al Attas, the Shobokshi brothers [3] and Ghassan Shaker [4] —Internationally famous director Youssef Chahine,and actor Omar Sharif and many Princes from the Libyan Royal family and the Jordanian Royal Family. Until 1952 when the King of Egypt King Farouk of Egypt was overthrown many notable Egyptian families including members of the Egyptian Royal Family attended the College.

Loyal Victorians

The Loyal Victorians Bond is a fresh union of Victoria College graduates, founded on July 27, 2011, by a group of Class '11 graduates as a movement initiated in the hopes to, strengthen the bonds between all Victoria College students, widen their intellectual, social and behavioral capacities, and bring back the well earned fame and history our dear school had been missing for a notable period of time.

Nowadays, there are about 60 members, have joined the Loyal Victorians, of 4 different graduated Classes, Class' 11 as founders, Class '12, Class' 13 and Class '14.

Mission To involve our school’s teaching staff along with the formerly graduated Old Victorians in the process of conducting extracurricular activities; embodied via the implementation of interactive, student-centered school projects which fundamentally aim to expand the students’ capacities and instill the qualities of loyalty and belonging to the school.

Our projects’ safe, enriching environment should precisely tackle the following objectives:

  • Enhance the students’ engagement in their daily school activities.
  • Develop the students’ capabilities of discovering their inner potentials.
  • Establish connections with other communities; which serve to maximize the students’ specific skills and powers.
  • Foster the students’ effective participation & co-interaction within the Alexandrian society.

Notable alumni

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See also: Category:Victoria College, Alexandria alumni

References

  1. ↑ Filkns, Dexter, "Boys of Baghdad College Vie for Prime Minister" (Archive). New York Times, December 12, 2005. Retrieved on April 29, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Shobokshi Shobokshi
  4. ↑ Ghassan Haker

External links

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