The members of the Culture Ministry##s Heritage Committee in Alexandria decided to freeze all their work and threatened collective resignation in protest against a decision by the Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri to demolish a villa in Alexandria listed on the Alexandria Heritage List
The members of the Culture Ministry##s Heritage Committee in Alexandria decided to freeze all their work and threatened collective resignation in protest against a decision by the Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri to demolish a villa in Alexandria listed on the Alexandria Heritage List. The decision was taken without referring to any of the experts or specialists on architectural heritage.
According to a committee member Adel Dessouqi, the decision crowns months of struggle and frustration trying to protect what remains of Alexandria##s heritage which has been subjected to continuous infringement and flagrant violations since the 25 January 2011 Revolution.
The villa, which is located on one of the main thoroughfares in Alexandria, the Abu-Qir Street, belonged to the prominent Egyptian economist Cicurel (1820–1919) who migrated to Egypt from Izmir in the mid-19th century, when both cities were part of the Ottoman Empire. At the time, the Cicurel family held Italian citizenship. After working for several years in a Jewish-owned haberdashery shop in the Muski then purchasing the shop from its owner, in 1909 Moreno Cicurel opened a large department store on what is now 26th of July Street in the heart of the European section of Cairo. Moreno##s second son, Yusuf Cicurel Bey, born in Cairo in 1887, was a member of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce and one of the ten original members of the board of directors of the first Egyptian bank Banque Misr in 1920, by which time the family had acquired Egyptian citizenship.
Watani International
29 February 2012
