Obituary
Prof. Dr. Salah Abdel-Gaber Ghonim Eisa (1951-2023) was a prominent Egyptian geographer who specialized in Rural Geography early in his career and we remember him fondly for his enthusiastic dedication to Geography. We also celebrate him for his love of poetry and the arts. Indeed, Prof. Eisa often composed poems which he recited publicly on special occasions. He was deeply committed to the internationalization of Egyptian and Arab Geography and steadfastly promoted worldwide these schools of Geography, with their particular case-studies, themes and approaches.
Prof. Eisa earned his Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees from Cairo University, and spent his professional life as a Professor at the University of Menoufia, located in the heart of the Nile Delta. He dedicated a significant part of his research to this outstanding region, focusing specifically on opportunities and challenges of water usage from the Nile River, including farmland irrigation, urban demands and leisure uses, as well as the environmental, planning and development implications of this life-giving and contested resource.
Prof. Eisa’s profound commitment to the Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems of the International Geographical Union (IGU CSRS) began in 2014 at the 22nd Colloquium meeting, held in Bucharest and the Carpathians. He was a regular participant to the IGU CSRS annual colloquia with his wife and, in the last occasions, with his son practitioner. The first picture captures Prof. Eisa with his son while doing fieldwork on a rural Wisconsin farm.
He was passionate about hosting the annual IGU CSRS Colloquium in Egypt. In 2022 he graciously welcomed the IGU CSRS family for the 29th Colloquium, our first in-person event post-COVID. It was a magnificent opportunity to learn in situ about his research on rural Egypt, including his deep concern about precarious rural housing. One evening, he took the participants to see some rural houses, next to a deltaic channel, where he gave detailed explanations, a moment captured in the second photo. Prof. Eisa’s goal was to convey a diverse image of rural Egypt, driven by demographic growth, tourism development and agricultural industrialization standing alongside severe environmental and planning challenges such as pollution, urban encroachment and shoreline retreat.
As we observed the week we spent in Egypt, Prof. Eisa inspired a powerful school of Egyptian Rural Geography. Today, his many doctoral students carry on his teachings at universities across Egypt.
In order to spread his research worldwide, and to promote knowledge of the Rural Geography of Egypt, Prof. Eisa included among the materials which he prepared for the 29th Colloquium the book titled Egyptian Contributions in Congresses, Conferences and Colloquia of the International Geographical Union, a nearly 400-page volume of his papers presented at IGU CSRS colloquia since 2014, translated into English. One of his articles contributed to these colloquia appeared as a peer-reviewed paper in the journal of the Catalan Society of Geography: https://revistes.iec.cat/index.php/TSCG/article/view/150032. Reading it is a good tribute to him.
His thoughtful presence, kindness and deep commitment to Geography will be fondly remembered by the entire global rural geographic community.
Dr. Valerià Paül, Co-Chair of the IGU CSRS, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Santiago de Compostela
Dr. Holly Barcus, Vice-President of the IGU, previous Co-Chair of the IGU CSRS, Professor of Geography at Macalester College
