A Press Statement Issued by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
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Some newspapers and social media platforms have recently sparked a debate about the sale of the diplomatic passport of the late Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat at an auction in the United States, and as a result, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s name was drawn into this controversy. In response, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina issued a press statement confirming that it has not received any passports, whether regular or diplomatic, that belonged to the late president, as part of the collection gifted by his wife, Mrs. Jehan El-Sadat, and that the belongings received from his family are perfectly stored and preserved at the Library.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is pleased to announce that, on 2 April 2023, it received the diplomatic passport of the late president, which was not among the collection originally obtained by the Library, after it was promptly retrieved by the Egyptian state from abroad. Given the confidence of the Egyptian state in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its role in preserving national heritage and honoring the country’s leading figures, the Library was allowed to include the recovered passport in the late president’s collection, and to exhibit it in a museum display worthy of Egypt’s presidents.
In this respect, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina expresses its sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Egyptian government and institutions for this trust, as its values the significant and effective role of the Egyptian state and the efforts it exerts at all levels, represented in the immediate retrieval of the passport of one of Egypt’s greatest presidents. May God protect Egypt, its president and people.