Essay on modern history of anesthesia in Egypt as reflected in Naguib (Bey) Mahfouz books.

It was already known that Professor Naguib (Bey) Mahfouz (1882-1974) whas the first staff anesthetist at Kasr El-Ainy Hospital (KEAH) in Cairo between the years 1904-1906. It is not well established why he changed his specialty. In a pursuit of this story, a very relevant account was discovered in his books published in 1935 on medical education and in 1966, a biography. Interesting revelations in his biography were revealed: First, he was not the first anesthetist at KEAH, and he was appointed to replace a retired anesthetist called Amin Naseem; second, chloroform was introduced to Egypt by Herbert Milton, the British surgeon at KEAH, toward the end of the last century; third, the reason why he changed his specialty was a fatal case of obstructed labor whom he has been giving anesthesia to- an incident that turned him toward obstetrics; fourth, he used chloroform, ehter and spinal analgesia with stovaine even when he was practicing as a surgeon; fifth, he revealed in his medical education book the names of pioneer doctors working in anesthesia in Egypt.