Egyptian actress Ragaa Al Geddawy died on Sunday, aged 81, due to complications from Covid-19.
The news was confirmed on social media by her daughter, Amira Mokhtar, after the actress died in hospital in the Egyptian city of Ismailia. Mokhtar added that the star was set to be buried in Egypt.
It had been previously reported that Al Geddawy was on the mend after being diagnosed with Covid-19 on May 24. The situation, however, took a turn on June 2, with Al Geddawy falling unconscious.
The Ramadan drama Le'bet El Nesyan, in which Al Geddawy starred in her last television role alongside stars Dina Al Sherbiny, Ahmed Dawoud and Ali Kassem, wrapped up production two days before she tested positive for the virus.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, co-star Kassem posted a tweet on May 24 urging fellow cast members to immediately isolate themselves as a health precaution. At present, there have been no reported positive cases arising from the production.
A witness to Egypt’s golden era of screen and stage
In addition to the yet-to-be-released film Tawam Rouhy (delayed due to Covid-19), Le'bet Al Nesyan caps off a majestic six-decade career for Al Geddawy.
Working diligently into her early 80s, she was considered – alongside the recently deceased 88-year-old Hassan Hosny – as one of the oldest working actors in the business.
Such longevity allowed her to experience key periods in the Egyptian entertainment industry, including the golden age of Egyptian cinema (from the 1940s to the 1960s), the hallowed era of the country's stage scene (from the 1970s to the 1990s) and the decade from the mid-1980s, when a slew of seminal Egyptian television dramas were produced.
Al Geddawy was there for all of them, portraying various characters encompassing the myriad strata of Egyptian society, ranging from the glitterati to the working class.
From beauty queen to key supporting actor
Al Geddawy was born on December 6, 1938, in Ismailia, north-eastern Egypt. The divorce of her parents resulted in her moving to Cairo as a child and being enrolled in a Franciscan boarding school where she learnt French and Italian.
Those skills led to her finding work as a translator in a Cairo advertising agency in the mid-1950s. Any plans for a career in marketing, however, were quashed after she won the Miss Egypt beauty pageant in 1958, which at the time, was a natural precursor to a career on the silver screen.
Al Geddawy made her debut in 1959's Dua Al Karawan (The Nightingale's Prayer).
Considered a classic of Egyptian cinema, the Henry Barakat-directed film is a tumultuous romance set in the Egyptian countryside, and stars the renowned Faten Hamama and Ahmed Mazhar.
It was in this movie, among these titans of cinema, that the 21-year-old Al Geddawy learnt the craft.
“There was a scene in the film where I was reading an emotional passage from a book to Hamama,” Al Geddawy recalled in a 2015 interview with Egyptian broadcaster CBC.
“After I read it, Hamama asked me why my voice lacked tears? I replied that tears come from the eyes and she said, no, they can be found in your throat. She then took the book and read the same passage to me with so much feeling that I cried.”
It was a lesson Al Geddawy took to heart, as she built a dynamic career as an influential supporting actor.
Her pensive performances elevated the films Letani Ma Araft Al Hob (1976) and Fi Alhayat Hob Akhar (1997), while her whimsical persona made her an ideal comic foil in two of Adel Imam's classic plays Al Wad Sayed Al Shaghal (1985) and 1993's Al Zaeem.
Al Geddawy continued to earn plaudits late into her career, with acclaimed roles in 2016 Ramadan dramas Al Ustura and Grand Hotel.
A private life filled with love
Al Geddawy, who was married to footballer Hassan Al Mukhtar, credited her enduring career to a stable family life.
When the Egyptian national team goalkeeper died in 2016, Al Geddawy reportedly said she buried “a part of her heart with him”.
In a 2018 interview with Al Nahar, Al Geddawy said she never stopped mourning Al Mukhtar and recalled their last exchange in the hospital.
"Shortly before he left me, he said, 'By the way, Ragaa, God will bless you so much, so don't be afraid' and he kept patting me on the shoulder," Al Geddawy said. "I didn't know what he meant ... He then asked me to help him sleep on his right side and he suddenly just left."
Al Geddawy now joins him, leaving behind daughter Amira, granddaughter Rawda and generations of mourning fans.
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
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