Mansour Hassan

Mansour Hassan Arabic: منصور حسن, (February 10, 1937 – December 22, 2012), was the Chairman of the Advisory Council of Egypt between 8 September 2011 and 8 March 2012 in the transition period that came after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. On 7 March 2012, he announced that he would run for president and appoint former intelligence officer General Sameh Seif Al-Yazal as vice president.

In 1981, Sadat added to Mansour's titles “the minister of state for presidential affairs” and gave him the right to read confidential presidential mail.

“Mansour Hassan set a different model in practicing politics. He was volunteering, he was not waiting for a car from the government or a salary,” wrote Gamei, adding that Sadat developed full faith in Hassan's political talent and eventually entrusted him with the two ministries, information and culture, in 1979.

He was Minister of Information from 1979 to 1981, when he resigned in response to arrests of opposition figures by Sadat.

Back then, Sayed Marei, one of the regime's most influential figures, suggested Hassan, given his distinguished educational background, wrote Gamei. Sadat agreed and Hassan contributed to establishing the National Democratic Party in 1978.

In the 1970s, he tapped into Egypt's highest politics, climbing the official echelons quite fast until establishing himself as one of Sadat's top aides. According to “I knew Sadat,” the memoirs of Sadat's adviser, Mahmoud Gamei, Hassan found his way to Sadat's world while the latter was looking for a young face to lead the new political party that he was about to establish. As he was shifting alliances from the Soviet Bloc to the Western American camp, Sadat had to convince his new allies that he was actually rejuvenating Egypt's political life and embracing democracy.

In the 1950s, Hassan joined Cairo University's Faculty of Commerce, where he specialized in political science. At the time, Cairo University still had no distinct school for political science. Meanwhile, his father had established a pharmaceutical business, which attracted Hassan upon his graduation.

In 1937, Hassan was born to a middle-class family in Sharqiya Governorate, situated north-east of Cairo. His father had invested heavily in his education; he sent him to the elite Victoria College in Alexandria, where many Arab royals and aristocrats enrolled their children.