Prominent Egyptian journalist, Ahram Online founder Hani Shukrallah dies at 69

Prominent Egyptian Journalist Hani Shukrallah, Ahram Online's founder, passed away on Sunday morning in his home at the age of 69, family members confirmed to Ahram Online.

The eminent journalist was known for his leftist views and his support for human rights throughout his career.

According to AhramOnline, The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights has extended its condolences to the family, saying "the organisation extends its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, who presented a unique model in the defence of human rights and contributed to the establishment of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights in 1985."

Funeral prayers will be held on Monday at Hamedeya El-Shazelyah Mosque in Mohandiseen, Cairo. The family will be receiving condolences during the wake at Omar Makram Mosque in Tahrir Square on Thursday.

Shukrallah founded Ahram Online on 26 November 2010 and served as its editor-in-chief for two years.

Shukrallah also served as Ahram Weekly’s managing editor for several years, nearly from 1991 to 2005, and the executive editor in chief from 2003-2005. He also wrote a regular column for the paper for more than 10 years.

He also wrote for The Guardian, Outlook (India), Al-Hayat (London), and the Journal of Palestine Studies.

In 2008 and 2009, he founded and was co-editor-in-chief of the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk, for which he wrote a weekly column. He was also the former executive director of the Cairo-based Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism.

The late veteran journalist was also senior editorial consultant with Welad Elbalad Media Services, which issues nine local weekly newspapers around the country.

Shukrallah also served as a consultant with the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies(2005-2008), one of the leading think tanks in the Middle East, and was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley (spring semester 2006).

He was a founding member of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, and a board member of the Centre for Arab and African Studies in Cairo.

Shukrallah was the author of 'Egypt, the Arabs and the World: Reflections at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century' (AUC Press, 2011).

He was also a former member of the Social Democratic Party.