Abdel Rahman El Khamesy

An Egyptian novelist, journalist, poet, director, writer, and actor, he was born in Port Said Governorate in 1920. He studied at Al-Qubba Secondary School located in Mansoura, but did not continue his studies. He moved to live in Cairo in 1936, and at that time moved between a large number of jobs: a salesman in a grocery store, a draftsman, a proofreader in a printing press, and a teacher in a school. After the July 1952 Revolution, he was arrested between 1953 and 1956. After his release from prison, he moved to work in Al-Jumhuriya newspaper. He was later arbitrarily transferred to work in the Ministry of Supply. He formed a theater group in his name and wrote and directed its works. He also worked in writing and Arabizing operettas. In cinema, he directed and wrote the script for four films (The Penalty, Respectable Families, Love and the Price, and Violet Flower). He also wrote the soundtracks for some of his works, and became famous as an actor for the role of Sheikh Youssef in the movie (The Earth) with director Youssef Chahine. He immigrated from Egypt and lived between Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Italy, the Soviet Union, and France, and died outside Egypt in 1987.