Egyptian actress Samiha Ayoub dies at 93 | Art

Egyptian actress Samiha Ayoub died on Tuesday morning at the age of 93, after a long artistic journey that began in the 1940s, during which she turned into one of the most important pillars of Egyptian and Arab theater, and one of the most influential figures in television drama and cinema.

In an official statement, the Egyptian Actors Syndicate confirmed the news of the death, noting that the late actress took her last breath at her home, while she was waiting for her son to arrive.

From the Shubra neighborhood to the stage

The late actress Samiha Ayoub was born in March 1932 in the popular Shubra neighborhood in the capital, Cairo, and her acting talent appeared early, so she joined the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in 1949, and she was taught by the great thespian Zaki Talimat, who introduced her to the theater through the play “The Queen’s Service,” which was the actual start of her career.

During her artistic career, she presented more than 170 theatrical works, most notably “Rabaa al-Adawiya”, “Sakkat al-Salama”, “Blood on the Stars of the Kaaba”, “Al-Wazir al-Asheq”, “Al-Sultan al-Haer”, “Regret”, “Phaedra”, and “Al-Sabansa”.

Ayoub held prominent administrative responsibilities, serving as director of the Modern Theater (1972-1975) and then director of the National Theater for two terms (1975-1989), and contributed to the development of the infrastructure of the Egyptian theater, as well as supporting new generations of actors.

Samiha Ayoub in film and television

Despite her fondness for theater, Ayoub was not absent from the screen, but left a distinctive mark in cinema and television. Her cinematic journey began with the 1947 film “The Tramp”, followed by her participation in films such as “Al Gharam Beach”, “Ward Al Gharam”, “Land of Hypocrisy”, “Between the Ruins”, “Fajr Al Islam”, “Don’t Turn Off the Sun”, and most recently “Tita Raheba”, which introduced her to young audiences with a comedic spirit.

In television, she participated in important works such as “Stray Light”, “Awan al-Ward”, “A Princess in Abdeen”, and “Al-Masrawiya”, and her performance was characterized by sobriety, depth of emotion, and awareness of text and meaning.

High-level honors

The late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser honored her with the Republic Medal on Flag Day 1966, the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and French President Giscard d’Estaing, who awarded her a knighthood after her performance of Phaedra at the Paris Opera Theater.

Samiha Ayoub’s private life

Ayoub was married four times, first to Mohsen Sarhan, with whom she had her son Ibrahim, and then to Mahmoud Morsi, with whom she had her son Alaa.

She was then linked to writer and intellectual Saad Eddin Wahba, with whom she formed an artistic and humanitarian duo for more than 20 years. She described him as “the love of a lifetime,” and he was her biggest supporter.

She later married director Ahmed El Nahas, and the marriage ended with great tension, as she accused him of cheating and seizing her money, and filed lawsuits against him, describing the relationship as “the disappointment of a lifetime.”