Sidky, Ismail (1875–1950)

Egyptian statesman. He joined Zaghlul Pasha and the Wafd in the struggle for Egyptian independence. With Zaghlul and others he was deported by the British to Malta, but released at Edmund Allenby's insistence in April 1919. Subsequently Sidky broke with Zaghlul, and, with the British, soon became the Wafd's most formidable enemy. In 1924 he was appointed prime minister. He held ruthless sway for three years, but in January 1933 became seriously ill. After his recovery, in 1936, he joined the national delegation which negotiated the Anglo-Egyptian treaty with the British. He opposed every suggestion that Egypt should declare war on the Axis, and in the period of World War II shed the last remnants of his reputation as a British puppet. He was recalled to office again in 1946.

Sidky was educated at the Collège des Frères in Cairo, Egypt, and at the Khedival Law School.