Abdel Halim Mohamed

His grandfather had played a decisive role in the defeat of an Egyptian army led by William Hicks at the battle of Shaykan in 1883 and the siege of Khartoum in 1885, before his death at the Battle of Toski on 3 August 1889.

Abdel Halim grew up with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which led to the failure of one of his lungs in his youth.

Abdel Halim began his education at a Quranic school (Khalwa) before entering Omdurman Primary School.

Abdel Halim Mohamed Abdel Halim (عبد الحليم محمد عبد الحليم; 10 April 1910 – 16 April 2009) was a Sudanese physician, writer, political activist, civil servant, and sports administrator who received national and international accolades for his work.

He was born into a family of scholars, writers and politicians: his grandfather was a Mahdist prince and military leader.

Abdel Halim became a doctor, graduating from Kitchener School of Medicine and training in Khartoum and London.

Due to his contributions, he is remembered as the "Father of medicine in Sudan".

He was among the first Sudanese to become a senior physician and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Abdel Halim was one of the founders of the Graduates' General Congress demanding independence from the Anglo-Egyptian occupation.

Abdel Halim Mohamed Abdel Halim Musaad Hashim (عبد الحليم محمد عبد الحليم مساعد هاشم) was born in Omdurman, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, on 10 April 1910 into the ‘Hashmab’ family, a family of scholars, writers and politicians with a pedigree equal to many of the gentry.

Abdel Halim was named after his grandfather, a Mahdist prince and military leader.

At the end of the 1920s, the society evolved to become ‘Al Fajr’ (the Dawn, الفجر ) society which established its magazine in 1934 that was committed to Sudanese folklore, culture and nationalist movements.

Abdel Halim regularly contributed to Al Fajr magazine under a pen name.

A book written by Muhammad Ahmad Mahgoub and Abdel Halim, titled "Death of a world" (موت دنيا ), advocated personal sacrifice for the national cause.

They wrote in its introduction:

"Our opinion gathered on issuing a fortnightly magazine that serves literature and the arts, and we chose for it the name 'Al-Fajr' because we believe that it is an honest dawn that will soon be followed by the morning...and we keep walking, neither criticism faltered our resolve, nor tempted us with praise. Major Egyptian newspapers began to quote literary articles and stories from our magazine... It was a fierce war between intellectual reaction and free thought... and when an issue of 'Dawn' was published, it was followed by an uproar in the government and society. The government is not satisfied with our directions, fed up with our criticism of its policies, and society is suspicious of us because it is not accustomed to such frankness in criticism and confrontation with the rulers"

He then attended Gordon Memorial College (known today as the University of Khartoum) in 1924, studying accountancy, before attending Kitchener School of Medicine (today the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum) (1929–1933) and graduated at the top of his class with a Diploma of Kitchener School of Medicine (DKSM).

Abdel Halim started his medical training as a house physician at Khartoum Teaching Hospital (1933–1934) and then as a medical registrar (1935–1938).

Abdel Halim was among the founders of the Graduates' General Congress in 1938 that later drafted the first memorandum in 1942, demanding independence from the Anglo-Egyptian occupation.

Abdel Halim was the political adviser and confidant to Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, one of the leading religious and political figures during the colonial era in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

He then continued his training in medicine and cardiology at Hammersmith Hospital, London, in 1939.

Due to the Second World War, he had to return to the Khartoum Teaching Hospital to work as an assistant to the senior physician.

Still, after the war, he returned to the United Kingdom to finish his medicine and cardiology training.

He was one of the first Sudanese physicians to become a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1948, and to be elected a Fellow (FRCP) in 1962.

Abdel Halim was the founding president of the Sudanese Medical Association (1949–1965).

Abdel Halim became the first Sudanese director of Omdurman Teaching Hospital (1950) and Khartoum Teaching Hospital (1954–1964).

Abdel Halim was a council member of the Gordon Memorial College from 1952 before becoming the first Sudanese chairman of the University Khartoum council after Sudan became independent in 1956.

He was appointed senior physician to the Ministry of Health in 1953.

He expanded these hospitals to include respiratory, cardio, neurology, neurosurgery and dermatology services and organised the building of the Al Shaab Teaching Hospital.

After Sudan's independence, he also taught at the Kitchener School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum.

After independence, he was the mayor of Khartoum until 1960 and later a member of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council (1964–1965).

He was nicknamed the 'wise Sheikh' due to his political impartiality.

He was one of the founders of the Confederation of African Football and the president of the Sudan Football Association, Sudan Equestrian Association, Sudan Olympic Committee and Sudanese Basketball Association.

He held the position until he retired from medical duties in 1965.

In 1965, Abdel Halim received an honorary Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Khartoum.

In the past, when investigative techniques were crude, Abdel Halim was described as "a superb medical diagnostician and an inspiring instructor. His medical ward rounds provided a platform for rigorous medical instruction, poetry, high-flying prose, Sudanese proverbs, and Qur'anic verses, in flawless classical Arabic and perfect English; everything was communicated with style and humour."

Abdel Halim is remembered as the ‘Father of medicine in Sudan’.

With his cousin, Muhammad Ahmad Mahgoub, Abdel Halim founded the ‘Hashmab society’, which advocated for education and enlightenment in Sudan.

He served as the third president of the Confederation of African Football from 1968 to 1972 and from 1987 to 1988.

He objected to South Africa and Rhodesia sport-segregation policies and refused to allow their teams to play unless it was mixed.