06.06.1934–14.04.2001
Youssef Francis
Youssef Francis (1934–2001) graduated from the painting department of the fine arts faculty in Cairo and in 1960 won first prize for oil painting at the Cairo Salon. He worked as an illustrator at the magazine Rose Al-Youssef and then at the newspaper Al-Ahram, wrote screenplays and made films. He illustrated the first serialised publication of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel “Miramar” and in 1987 became director of the Egyptian Cultural Center in Paris.
Biography
In 1966, in the newspaper serialisation of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel “Miramar”, which appeared in instalments, the drawings accompanying the text were made by Youssef Francis. By then he had been working in the press for several years, and as a painter he had been recognised even earlier.
He was born on 6 June 1934 in Cairo. In 1957 he graduated from the faculty of fine arts, in the painting department. He then spent two years studying in Luxor, in creative workshops, after which he completed the Higher Institute of Cinema, and in 1970 he took a further course in the directing department. In 1960 he won first prize for oil painting at the Cairo Salon. In 1958 he spent a year as an illustrator at the magazine Rose Al-Youssef. From 1964 he was on the staff of the newspaper Al-Ahram and stayed there for a long time, rising to the post of adviser to the editor-in-chief. He took up screenwriting in 1965. I would not regard the order of events at the start of his career as firmly established: the dates of 1964 and 1965 differ between accounts. His first work in cinema was the film “The Impossible” (1965), for which he wrote the script together with Mustafa Mahmoud. It was followed by “My Father on the Tree” (1969, co-written with Ihsan Abdel Quddous and Saad Eddin Wahba) and “The Thin Thread” (1971).
His other screenplays include “The People Inside” (1969), “The Third of Them the Devil” (1978), “The Addict” (1983), “East Bird” (1986) and “My Friend How Much You Worth” (1987).
As a director he made “The Addict” (1983), “East Bird” (1986), “My Friend How Much You Worth” (1987), “The Women’s Market” (1994), “Searching for Tutankhamun” (1995) and “Baby Who Are You” (2000). Among his television work, the miniseries “Illusion and Truth” (1980), starring Salah Zulfikar, is singled out. The film about Tutankhamun is likewise counted among his important works. His awards include a prize from the Alexandria festival and a science film award.
In 1987 Francis was appointed director of the Egyptian Cultural Center in Paris. He is the author of a number of books in various fields.
He died on 14 April 2001 in Hurghada, where he was resting. He was 66.
Profile notes