Mohammad Hosni

Mohammad Hosni, also known as Mohammad Kamal Hosni Elbaba , was an Egyptian master calligrapher, at the Royal Institute of Calligraphy in Cairo. He was one of the last of the classical calligraphers, who is noted for making a number of improvements to the lettering. He excelled in the Thuluth school of calligraphy. His father was of Kurdish descent.

Early life Born in 1894 in Cairo, Egypt. He was fond of calligraphy from his early childhood, and he migrated to Egypt at the age of 19, where he became a national. Yousef Rasa was commissioned by the Ottoman Caliph, Abdul Hameed to prepare the calligraphy of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus during its restoration, which is how Hosni and Rasa met. Hosni later studied with Mohammad Shawqi (also known as Mehmed Şevkî Efendi).

At the age of only 18, in 1912, Hosni migrated with his father to Cairo in Egypt, where he studied and lived his entire life, and was later naturalized as an Egyptian

Life and career He moved to Cairo as a youngster in 1912, He wrote thousands of frames for the “silent movies”, book headers and many other publications.

In the 1920s, he purchased a house in Cairo's Khan el Khalili district and initially worked from there. By 1929, at the age of 35 years; he had opened his own office and workshop.

Hosny was the first professor to be appointed by King Farouk, to teach at the new Royal School of Calligraphy when it was formed in 1922. His fame brought him in contact with some of the most renowned calligraphers of Egypt and the Arab world; including Najeeb Al Hawaweeni (shown in the 1946 photo, sitting second on the right). In 1944, he certified the renowned Iraqi master calligrapher Hashim Mohammad Al Khatat Al Baghdadi (1917-1973), who became a regular visitor to Hosni's home and also correspondended with Hosni throughout his life.

By 1958, Hosni was widely regarded as one of the leading Islamic calligraphers. In 1965, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in calligraphy in Canada, a year after his death in 1964.

Samples from his work can be seen on several web sites and books including some of his master frameworks and few of his greatest in the Thuluth.

Family life He married two women with whom he had eleven children;

His son, Ezz Eddin Hosni (1927–2013), was a music composer, with credits for some 100 songs, and taught his sister Najat music and singing. Another son, Sami Hosni, was a cellist, jewelry designer and calligrapher. His son Farooq was a painter and his daughter Samira was an actress.

Latest In 2011, Egyptian master calligrapher Khudair al-Borsaidi said he met Mohammad Hosni in 1958 and that Mohamed Hosni was his “first teacher”.

In 2012, Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition in Cairo (organized by Senari House in Sit Zainab, Cairo) showed the original of one of his frameworks for the first time. This particular work of Hosni was owned by artist Hamdi Al Sharif; a student of Hosni.