Manar Abouheif

Manar Abouheif graduated from the St Claire English Commercial School (London Pitman's), also the Tiegerman Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music in London and studied composition, opera singing, piano, the theory of music and ballet. Mrs. Abouheif established the first water ballet team in Egypt in the early 1950s. She has a pure coloratura soprano voice and sang operatic parts in international song festivals and other venues including performances in La Traviata, the Barber of Seville, Sheherazad and the part of Gilda in Rigoletto at Le Centre Cultural Italien "Dante Alighieri" in Alexandria in 1967, for which she received critical acclaim. Mrs. Abouheif has also conducted orchestras (the band "Youth Melodies") and the choir which she founded in 1963, and directed a dance troup performing musicals and variety show.

Mrs. Abouheif held the post of General Director of the National Review Theater and Administrative Director of the Ministry of Culture. In the sporting field Manar Abouheif excelled in the equestrian arena as a champion show jumper and as a jockey, riding for fifteen years as an amateur, ten years as a professional and being the first woman jockey to be issued with a license by the Fort Eyrie race-track in Canada in 1963. Also an expert in judo, she established not only the first riding team but also the first fencing and rowing teams in Egypt, with further sporting interests in tennis, ping-pong and car racing (this last sport being one in which her son Nasser Abouheif is a champion).

In 1997, she received from The American Biographical Institute the Golden Record for achievements in honor of career excellence and outstanding contributions to international society. She also received from The American Biographical Institute a Commemorative Medal in recognition of her selection as Woman of the year for outstanding community and professional achievements.