Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970) was an Egyptian military officer and politician who served as president of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. He was a leading figure in the Free Officers Movement that overthrew the Egyptian monarchy in 1952, and as president he nationalized the Suez Canal Company in 1956, triggering the Suez Crisis in which Egypt faced invasion by Britain, France and Israel before international pressure forced their withdrawal. A prominent advocate of pan-Arabism and non-alignment during the Cold War, he pursued state-led economic development and briefly united Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961. His presidency also included the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Egypt and allied Arab states suffered a major military defeat against Israel, a setback from which his standing never fully recovered before his death three years later.