Mahmud Awad

After struggling with his illness, 70-year-old Awad died on 28 August 2009. No one knew about his death until two days later, when he did not show up for his doctor appointment.

Awad did not let that stop him from pursuing his passion, and started writing for some of the well-known Arab newspapers, including the London-based Al-Hayat international Arab paper, Alqabas Kuwaiti newspaper and Al Riyadh Saudi newspaper, until he was appointed editor-in-chief for Al Ahrar newspaper of the Liberal Party in 1986. He helped increase the distribution of the newspaper by 157,000 in only three months’ time, which was the span of his experience at Al Ahrar. However, as a result of some disagreements between Awad and the Liberal Party, Awad fell ill and self-isolated. Shortly after his recovery, he joined Egypt's Journalists Syndicate council and helped form the building blocks of the syndicate by setting up activities for talented young journalists and rewarding them.

In 1977, Awad was barred from his writing profession at Akhbar el-Yom, despite enriching the content of the newspaper and contributing to the increase of its distribution to over a million copy. There were many conflicting reasons regarding Awad's ban, one reason being his opposing views regarding the peace negotiations with Israel, which provoked the authorities. Another reason could be his professional excellence that lead to jealousy among colleagues. As a traveling writer, Awad covered topics from different parts of the world, including the United Nations, and wrote about the life of Egyptians abroad. He was also well known among celebrities and leading Intellectuals. According to the Egyptian journalist, Khairy Hassan, Musa Sabri, who was jealous of Awad's achievements, justified Awad's work trips as absence from work, adding that Awad is an Literary editor, not a writer, and, hence, is not entitled to take leave from work for such long periods.

Awad enrolled in law school and continued to pursue writing as a hobby. Hence, he joined Akhbar el-Yom foundation, in which he successfully managed to balance between journalism and studying, till he graduated in 1964.

Awad became one of the most prominent writers in the 1960s, and was named the "Nightingale of the Egyptian Press" by the former editor-in-chief, Ihsan Abdel Quddous. He won this title after proving himself and publishing a great article about Umm Kulthum, after the delay caused by one of the great writers of Akhbar el-Yom newspaper, Anis Mansour, in turning in his daily article. Mansour's repeated delay in his submissions caused problems in printing the paper on its due date, and, thus, lead Abdel Quddous to entrusting Awad with the last page of Akhbar Al-Youm. In fact, because Mansour admired Awad's writings, Mansour sent the last page of the newspaper 3 days earlier than it was due. In addition, Abdel Quddous charged Awad to write a weekly page in the newspaper titled "Personalities," in which he employed his unusual, yet unique, style of writing to narrate stories of intellectual, cultural, political and religious figures in Egypt. Furthermore, he gained a wide recognition for being the only Arab journalist who witnessed the issuance of the United Nations resolution 242 (1967), and the coup attempt by General Mohammad Oufkir against King Hassan II.

Mahmud Awad (Arabic: محمود عوض; 28 December 1942 – 28 August 2009) was an Egyptian journalist and writer, born in the city of Talkha in Dakahlia Governorate.