Mubarak, Hosni, << muh BAHR ak, HOS nee >> (1928-2020), served as president of Egypt from October 1981 to February 2011. He succeeded Anwar el-Sadat, who was assassinated by Islamist militants. As president, Mubarak continued Sadat’s policies, including the fulfillment of the 1979 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel (see Egypt (History)).
While Mubarak was in office, Egypt remained under the state of emergency declared after Sadat’s assassination. This condition gave the state sweeping powers and limited the people’s basic freedoms. The government considered the measures necessary to combat increasing Islamist terrorism within Egypt. In response, opposition movements claimed official corruption and called for economic and political reforms.
In late January 2011, massive protests began in Cairo and other cities against Mubarak’s government. The protests turned violent, and more than 800 people died in clashes with police. The protests ended in February after Mubarak resigned as president and handed power to the Egyptian military. The popular uprising in Egypt followed similar events in Tunisia and helped spark unrest elsewhere in the region.
Mubarak was arrested on corruption charges in April 2011. In 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the killing of protesters the year before. In 2013, the ailing former leader was transferred to house arrest in a military hospital following further government changes and unrest in Egypt. An Egyptian court overturned Mubarak’s 2012 conviction in 2014 and dismissed his life sentence. In 2015, however, Mubarak was convicted in a corruption case, and he remained in government custody until March 2017.
Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928, in Kafr-El-Meselha, a small village north of Cairo. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1949 and the Air Force Academy in 1950. After serving as a fighter pilot and a bomber squadron commander, Mubarak commanded the air force from 1972 until 1975, when Sadat appointed him vice president. Mubarak was the longest serving Egyptian head of government since Muhammad Ali (1805-1848). Mubarak died on Feb. 25, 2020.
