Labib Habachi (1906-1984)

              (CE:1423a-1423b)
LABIB HABACHI (1906-1984), Egyptologist. He was born at al- Mansurah, capital of the province of Daqahliyyah, and died in Luxor.

He took an interest in Coptic studies from his earliest days. His first publication in Arabic was a book in 1929 on the Coptic monasteries of the Eastern Desert. Although his education and active career in the Department of Antiquities led him to become one of the foremost Egyptologists of modern times, he never lost interest in Coptology.

He was one of the earliest graduates of the newly established Institute of Egyptology in Cairo University in 1928, and joined the Department of Antiquities in 1930 where he spent thirty years, during which time he covered practically all the Egyptian inspectorates and became thoroughly acquainted with all antiquities. He also studied the Egyptian collections in the leading museums of the world. The Oriental Institute of Chicago University selected him as consultant to its Nubian expedition in 1960. In 1981, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, a festschrift was dedicated to him by German institutes, a 531-page volume containing seventy contributions by Egyptologists from twelve nations. His bibliography, numbering approximately 170 titles, shows occasional contributions in the field of Coptology. He became a member of the board of directors of the Society of Coptic Archaeology in 1976.

MIRRIT BOUTROS GHALI