Ahmad Maher Pasha

Ahmad Maher Pasha (1885/6– 24 February 1945) (Arabic: أحمد ماهر باشا) was an Egyptian politician from the Saadist Institutional Party who served as Prime Minister of Egypt from October 1944 to February 1945. He was the younger brother of Aly Maher, and the grandfather of the diplomats Ahmed Maher El Sayed and Ali Maher.

Maher was born in the Abbasiyya district of Cairo. He was the son of Muhammad Mahir, a former Under-Secretary of State for War and Governor of Cairo, and was of Circassian origin. He attended Montpellier University where he earned a license en droit, later teaching at law school, what became Cairo University. He later became involved in the Wafd party during the 1919 Egyptian Revolution. After rivals of the Wafd formed the Liberal Constitutional Party, two of its members were assassinated because they were mistaken for party founders, Adly Pasha and Husayn Rushdi. Maher was arrested for this crime but then released shortly afterwards. He then became Minister of Education under the government of Sa'ad Zaghloul. He had to resign after being implicated in the assassination of Sir Lee Stack, but was later acquitted in June 1926 alongside fellow Wafdist Mahmoud El Nokrashy. Despite his acquittal, the British were still wary of Maher. He became president of the Comptabilité Committée in parliament following the 1926 Egyptian elections and was a member of the Wafd High Command in 1927, 1932 and 1935. He was also a signatory to the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty in his capacity of president of the Chamber of Deputies.

In 1937, Maher and Nokrashy left the Wafd party to form the Saadist party. After the 1938 Egyptian parliamentary election Maher became Minister of Finance. He was the prime minister from 10 October 1944 to 24 February 1945. He was appointed upon the removal of Mustafa an-Nahhas Pasha by King Farouk of Egypt.

Maher consistently supported the Allies during World War II. He argued that joining the war would give the Egyptian Army vital combat experience it had lacked since the era of Muhammad Ali, and that this deficiency was the pretext Britain used to justify keeping its forces in Egypt as guardians of the Suez Canal.