Meeting Jihan Sadat, 1991, by Jim Weingart

From MemoryArchive

Who: Jim Weingart
What: Sunday Brunch with Jihan Sadat (Mrs. Anwar Sadat)
When: Summer 1991
Where: Washington DC Suburbs

In the summer of 1991 I was contacted by my high school principal. As a fundraiser, the high school had scheduled Jihan Sadat, the wife of Anwar Sadat, former President of Egypt, to make a speech at the school. (President Sadat was assassinated in October, 1981). The meeting between the school officials and Mrs Sadat to arrange the details for her trip and speech was set to occur in the Washington suburbs. The principal and those with her were not familiar with the Washington area and needed someone to help with arranging the details of the meeting and getting the school representatives to the meeting. Because she knew I lived in the metro area and had helped with alumni events in the past, the principal contacted me for help. Dutifully, I helped arrange for Sunday brunch in a suburban restaurant and drive the principal and her associates to and from the meeting. As a result, I was invited to stay for the brunch and had an opportunity to meet this extraordinary woman. She was soft spoken but very self-assured. She had several attendants who accompanied her but she was clearly in charge. She was both approachable but nonetheless very dignified, formal, and elegant. She was modern in her appearance and she carried herself as you would expect for a first lady of a nation state.