Tahtawi, Rifa'ah Rafi' al-

Tahtawi, Rifa'ah Rafi' al-

(born 1801, Tahta, Egypt—died 1873, Egypt) Egyptian teacher and scholar. Beginning in 1826, he spent five years in Paris as a religious teacher for a group of Egyptian students and later was appointed head of a state language school (1836) and a translation bureau (1841) in Cairo. In these capacities he played a central role in bringing Western science and methods to Egypt. Under the anti-Western administration of khedive 'Abbas I (1848–54), he was sent to teach school in Khartoum, Sudan, but later returned to resume his work in translation and education.