The Coptic Orthodox Church in London was formally established in the summer of 1971 with regular liturgical ministry by Fr Antonious al-Syriani, now H.B. Metropolitan Pachomeus of Beheira and the Locum Tenens of the Patriarch
The Coptic Orthodox Church in London was formally established in the summer of 1971 with regular liturgical ministry by Fr Antonious al-Syriani, now H.B. Metropolitan Pachomeus of Beheira and the Locum Tenens of the Patriarch. A church council was soon formed and I found myself honoured and blessed to work with a noble and dedicated group in those formative years of the first Coptic Church in Europe. Dr. Fuad Megally was a natural choice for Secretary of the Council given his contacts in the academic, ecclesiastic, diplomatic, and political circles of Egypt and Britain. In each of those arenas he was the best ambassador of Egypt and the church. He graciously and effectively served in that role until his departure on 14 April 2011.
Fuad Megally was born on 18 November 1923 in Assiut, Egypt. The family soon after moved to Alexandria, where he was raised. After graduating with a B.A. in English from Alexandria University’s Faculty of Arts, he worked briefly as a teacher in high schools, then as a lecturer in English literature: first at Alexandria University, then, at Ain Shams University, Cairo. Megally was a pioneer in his generation who sought higher education in Europe, first on a two-year government mission course at Exeter University, England in 1953-1955, and later receiving a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature (nineteenth-century English and French) from Trinity College, Dublin in 1968.
A portion of his Ph.D. research was conducted at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. On completing this work, he was invited to join the first Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary project, where he was appointed Assistant Editor. The 1971 dictionary is a unique publication: in addition to his editorial role, Dr Megally wrote all the Arabic entries in his own hand. Thus he was both calligrapher and editor of the Arabic content. He later joined the teaching staff of Westminster University in London where he was a professor of comparative literature until his retirement. He also served as visiting professor at University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin. These academic experiences allowed him to be a role model to many generations, who as a result seriously considered and in many instances pursued higher education abroad.
While I was a Ph.D. student at University College London (1970-1973), I came to closely know Dr Megally and enjoy spiritual-intellectual fellowship with him. I deeply respected him as a scholar, servant of Christ, community leader, and exemplary family man. He was a trusted friend to many of us who were in London as young, single graduate students or professionals. He embraced our youthful spirit and was always patient with my own sometimes overly enthusiastic expressions and actions. He even encouraged young adults to participate in the decision-making process of the newly born community and church. I remember with personal gratitude how Dr Megally opened his heart and home to me and the community with utmost grace, kindness, generosity, and selfless dedication—seemingly engrained in his genes—to a higher purpose than himself.
In the summer of 1971, the Coptic Church in London was blessed by a visit from then H.G. Bishop Shenouda, a few months before his enthronement as Pope of Alexandria. His Grace made a special trip to Oxford, organized and hosted by Dr Megally in his home. His Grace met with the late Professor John Barnes, who was Oxford Professor of Coptic Studies and friend of the Megally family. His Grace also spent hours in the Bodleian Library immersing himself in Coptology scholarship. Dr Megally organized similar experiences for visiting and resident Coptic clergy and laity, including myself.
As Senior Editor at Watani International from 2001-2011, I was honoured to collaborate with a fellow Senior Editor, Dr. Laila Farid (Manchester, England), in publishing her article-interview with Dr Megally (in the issue of 4 August 2002). Later, Dr Megally graciously accepted my invitation to write for my page in Watani and did so on several occasions.
Dr. Megally’s Contributions to The Coptic Encyclopedia
When the project of creating The Coptic Encyclopedia was initiated in the late 1970s by Professor Aziz Atiya (1898-1988), he invited Dr Megally to join a two-person Editorial Managing Committee that also included S. Kent Brown of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
After fourteen years of hard work, The Coptic Encyclopedia was published in eight volumes by Macmillan in 1991. This monumental work, with approximately 2800 entries written by 215 scholars from around the world, covers treasures of Coptic language and literature, Copto-Arabic literature, Coptic art, architecture, archaeology, history, music, liturgy, theology, spirituality, monasticism, and biblical, apocryphal, social, and legal texts, among other topics. The project was made possible by donations from Coptic communities in Egypt and the Diaspora, continued encouragement and a check from H.H. Pope Shenouda III, a gift from a generous donor the late Mr Sobhi Roushdi (Chairman of the Coptic Church Council in London since its inception in 1971), a matching grant from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities, and numerous other sources.
In addition to his role as co-managing editor, Dr. Megally contributed 11 entries to The Coptic Encyclopedia. These are: “Saint George,” “Administrative Organization of Egypt,” “Coptic Street,” “Chrism,” “Coptic Benevolent Societies” (co-authored with Sulayman Nasim), “Holy Synod,” “Patriarchal Deputy,” “Coptic Numerical System,” “Muhammad Ramzi,” “Coptic Migration” (co-authored with H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Fayek M. Ishak, Fr. Gabriel Abdelsayed, H.G. Bishop Antonius Marcus, Pierre de Bogdanoff, Fr Salib Suryal, and H.G. Bishop Serapion), and “Manassa Yuhanna.”
Of special interest is Dr Megally’s entry on Coptic Street in London. Reading this piece brings back good memories of when we used to walk with Dr Megally from the first Coptic Church, hosted then by the Anglican Church of St. Andrew in Holborn, London, toward an outing at the British Museum or nearby garden. It also reminds us of the rise of interest in Coptic civilization in nineteenth-century England when the British Museum acquired a large collection of Coptic manuscripts from St. Mary’s Coptic Monastery (al-Syrian) in Wadi al-Natrun. This inspired the renaming of the street leading to the British Museum to become Coptic Street in 1894. This entry is now posted at:
http://cdm15831.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/cce/id/524.