Anwar Sadat

By Tom Kirvan

“There is no happiness for people at the expense of other people,” said Anwar Sadat, the third president of Egypt, who was assassinated on October 6, 1981, less than three years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sadat was killed during a military parade by extremists who were opposed to his policy of reconciliation with Israel and his close links with the United States. Sadat shared the Peace Prize with Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin after having taken the initiative in negotiating a peace treaty between the two countries. The so-called Camp David Accords came about thanks to the mediation efforts of U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Although reaction to the treaty in Egypt was generally favorable, it was strongly opposed by the country’s Muslim Brotherhood, which felt it betrayed efforts to create a State of Palestine in the Middle East.

Born on Christmas Day in 1918, Sadat fought against British dominance of Egypt and was imprisoned for several years. After World War II, he joined the ranks of those who under Gamal Abdel Nasser's leadership deposed the pro-English King Farouk in 1952.

Anwar Sadat*

When Sadat took over as Egyptian president following the death of Nasser, he broke Egypt's links with the Soviet Union, and sought U.S. support in recovering territories lost to Israel. In the autumn of 1977, Sadat undertook a bold journey to Jerusalem, where he offered Begin a peace treaty in return for recovery of the occupied Sinai Peninsula.

“Peace is much more precious than a piece of land… Let there be no more wars,” Sadat said, noting that “Russians can give you arms, but only the United States can give you a solution.”

Sadat’s foreign policy included an economic shift designed to open up Egypt for private business and Western investment, a dramatic departure from the socialist agenda of Nasser’s.

“Most people seek after what they do not possess and are enslaved by the very things they want to acquire,” Sadat declared, sending a prophetic message to dictators of his and future generations.

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