Abd el-Razzak el-Sanhuri or ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-Sanhūrī () (11 August 1895 – 21 July 1971) was an Egyptian jurist, law professor, judge and politician. He is best remembered as the primary author of the revised Egyptian Civil Code of 1948. Al-Sanhūrī's multi-volume masterwork, Al-Wasīṭ fī sharḥ al-qānūn al-madanī al-jadīd, a comprehensive commentary on the Egyptian Civil Code of 1948 and on civil law more generally, published during 1952-1970, remains in print and is highly regarded in legal and juristic professions throughout the Arab world. Al-Sanhūrī was Minister of Education in the Cabinet of Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha from 1945-1946 and again from late 1946 to 1948. He was subsequently appointed as President of the Egyptian Council of State. Al-Sanhūrī's tenure as President of the Council of State lasted until 1954, when he was dismissed by coercion. He has been described as "a personality of unique embroidery, never to reoccur". An avowed advocate of Arab unity, al-Sanhūrī was notably active in the legal and institutional reforms of different Arab countries throughout most of his adult life. He presided over a committee which drafted the Iraqi Civil Code, while at the same time serving as dean of the Baghdad Law School, from 1935 to 1937. He also contributed to a drafting project of a Syrian civil code throughout the early 1940s. Al-Sanhūrī also drafted various public and private laws of Kuwait, Sudan, Libya and Bahrain. Early life and education Al-Sanhūrī was born on 11 August 1895 in Alexandria. His father, who, by the time of al-Sanhūrī's birth, had lost his fortune, worked as a 'minor' employee at the Alexandria Municipal Council. Al-Sanhūrī had six other siblings. His father's passing in 1900 aggravated the family's destitution. Al-Sanhuri obtained his secondary school certificate from the ʿAbbāsiyya in 1913 and then joined the Khedival School of Law (later the Faculty of Law at Cairo University) where he obtained his BA in 1917. He was subsequently assigned to the position of Deputy Prosecutor at the National Court of Mansura which he retained until 1919, when his incitement of riots during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 led to his dismissal. After this, al-Sanhūrī briefly worked as a teacher in Madrasat al-qadā al-shariyya. In 1921, al-Sanhūrī moved to Lyon, France to obtain his doctorate. During that time, he undertook research under the French jurist Édouard Lambert. Al-Sanhūrī returned to Cairo in 1926 to take up a position as