Abaza family

The Abaza family (Abaza: Абаза; Arabic: عائلة أباظة, romanized: ʻĀʼilat Abāẓah, or آل أباظة, Āl Abāẓah; Egyptian Arabic: عيلة أباظة, romanized: ʻĪleht Abāẓah) is an Egyptian aristocratic family of maternal Abazin Circassian origin.^[1][2][3]

"Deeply rooted in Egyptian society... [and] in the history of the country", it has had an influence from the late 18th century to modern times.^[4][5]

It is known for producing literary and cultural figures, nobles, officials, technocrats, governors, and politicians under the Muhammad Ali dynasty in the 19th and early 20th century and during the republican period in the 20th and 21st centuries.^[6][7]

They are sometimes referred to as "the family of the pashas" for having produced Egypt's largest number of nobles.^[6][8]

The family's impact on Egyptian and Arabic culture, literature, academia, journalism, cinema and art has been substantial.^[9][10] Their contributions were through the works of authors, journalists, and activists Ismail Pasha Abaza and Fekry Pasha Abaza,^[11] author Ibrahim Desouky Pasha Abaza,^[12][13] poet Aziz Pasha Abaza,^[14] novelist Tharwat Abaza, sociologist Mona Abaza,^[15] actor Rushdy Abaza, multiple other actors and directors, among others in various fields.^[16][7]

Although widely celebrated for its cultural, intellectual, and historical contributions, on occasion the family has been criticized for "monopolizing" several parliamentary districts since the 19th century "reign of Muhammad Ali".^[17][7]

They are thought to number in the many thousands, with sources varying in their estimates.^[18][19] However, these numbers are thought to be highly unreliable as no local censuses of Circassian communities exist due to a general "lack in demographic data on minorities in Egypt".^[20]