Mehmed Ali ruled Egypt without literacy until roughly age fifty
Evidence
It is fairly certain that Mehmed Ali did not learn to read and write until he was aged about fifty; accordingly his letters were dictated to scribes and written down on the spot (a fact that explains the very spontaneous and immediate nature of many of them), and the books with which he was familiar and to which he often referred had been read to him. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 493
Categorization
- XREF: An illiterate ruler commanding modern state-building resonates with similar figures elsewhere; relates to reader’s interest in how the modern Egyptian army arose from a man with no formal education. — connects to: Mehmed Ali was illiterate until around age fifty and learned via reading aloud; Mehmed Ali remained illiterate until about age fifty and dictated all his letters.
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Mehmed Ali was illiterate until around age fifty and learned via reading aloud; Mehmed Ali remained illiterate until about age fifty and dictated all his letters.