| Notities persoon | http://www.egy.com/community/95-05-13.shtml
It was also during WW2 that several of Egypt’s Belgians lost their lives including the sons of entrepreneur L. Rolin and industrialist Henri Naus. Although the Belgian captains and kings of Egyptian industry looked at Edouard Empain as the honorary doyen of Egypt’s affluent Belgian community, it was to Henri Naus Bey (1875-1938), to whom they turned for advice. Naus Bey and Anne Etty, his Javanese-raised wife, came to Egypt at the turn of thecentury. With the assistance of his two proteges Albert Ceyssens and Raoul Roche, Naus successfully reorganized the Egyptian Sugar Company which had suffered a final coup de grace when its chairman Ernest Cronier committed suicide in Paris after loosing much of the company’s assets at the Paris Bourse. Under the Naus administration the Sucreries flourished becoming the standard banner for all other agro-industrial projects. Although the Societe des Sucreries et Rafineries d’Egypte started out as a Franco-Jewish consortium (Cronier-Suares), for several decades after it was run exclusively by Belgians. Over the years, Naus developed a close relationship with Egypt’s King Fouad and it was at the latter’s prompting that he sat on numerous business and charity boards. It was also Henri Naus who created the Assistance Publique (ambulance) of Egypt in 1910. He was its first Vice-president and later its president. Likewise, Naus was also treasurer of the Red Crescent of Egypt. In 1922 Naus was nominated the first President of the Egyptian Federation of Industries, a very prestigious and influential position at the time. |
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