Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak (Arabic: محمد حسني سيد مبارك‎, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmmæd ˈħosni ˈsæjjed moˈbɑːɾˤɑk], Muḥammad Ḥusnī Sayyid Mubārak; born 4 May 1928)^[1] is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

Mubarak was appointed Vice President of Egypt in 1975, and assumed the presidency on 14 October 1981, following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. The length of his presidency made him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha.^[2] Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force, serving as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rising to the rank of air chief marshal.

Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution^[3] when, on 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.^[4][5] On 13 April, a prosecutor^[which?] ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.^[6] He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution.^[7] These trials officially began on the 3 August 2011.^[8] Egypt’s military prosecutors then also proclaimed that it is investigating Mubarak's role in the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat.^[9][10

Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928,^[1] in Kafr-El-Meselha, Monufia Governorate, Egypt. He is married to Suzanne Mubarak, and has two sons: Alaa, and Gamal.

Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Military Sciences in 1949.^{[citation needed]} On 2 February 1949, Mubarak left the Military Academy and joined the Air Force Academy, gaining his commission as a pilot officer on 13 March 1950^[11] and eventually receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Sciences.

As an Egyptian Air Force officer, Mubarak served in various formations and units, including two years when he served in a Spitfire fighter squadron.^[11] Some time in the 1950s, he returned to the Air Force Academy, this time as an instructor, remaining there until early 1959.^[11] From February 1959 to June 1961, Mubarak undertook further training in the Soviet Union, attending a Soviet pilot training school in Moscow and another at Kant Air Base, near Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan (then a Soviet republic), an airfield that is today home to the Russian 5th Air Army's 999th Air Base.

Mubarak undertook training on the Ilyushin Il-28 and Tupolev Tu-16 jet bomber, and then joined the Frunze Military Academy in 1964. On his return to Egypt, Mubarak served in wing and then base commander appointments, taking up command of the Cairo West Air Base in October 1966 before briefly commanding the Beni Suef Air Base.^[11] In November 1967, Mubarak became the Air Force Academy's commander when he was credited with doubling the number of pilots and navigators in the Air Force during the pre-October War years.^[12] Two years later he became Chief of Staff for the Egyptian Air Force.

Mubarak became Commander of the Air Force and Egyptian Deputy Minister of Defence in 1972. In the following year his military career reached its pinnacle when he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in recognition of service during the October War of 1973.^[11][13] Mubarak has been credited in some publications for Egypt's initial strong performance in the 1973 war against Israel.^[14] The Egyptian analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal gave a different evaluation of the role of the Air Force in 1973 from that of Mubarak and his supporters. Heikal argued that the Air Force played a mostly psychological role in the war, providing an inspirational sight for the Egyptian ground troops that carried out the crossing of Suez Canal, rather than for any military necessity.^[15] The role of Mubarak was further disputed by Shahdan El-Shazli the daughter of the former Egyptian military Chief of Staff Saad el-Shazly. She alleged that Mubarak altered the representation of a number of events pertaining to the 1973 war to show a magnified role for himself. In an interview with the Egyptian independent newspaper Almasry Alyoum (26 Feb 2011), El-Shazli claimed that Mubarak altered documents to take credit for the initial success of the Egyptian forces in 1973 from her father. She alleged that even photographs pertaining to the discussions in the military command room were altered, so that the pictures of Saad El-Shazli were erased and replaced by Mubarak. She stated that she intends to take a legal action with this regard.^[16]

In April 1975, Mubarak was appointed by Sadat as Vice President of Egypt. In this position, he loyally served Sadat's policies. He took part in government consultations that dealt with the future disengagement of forces agreement with Israel.^[17]

As part of his support for Sadat's policies, he went in early September 1975 on a mission to Riyadh, and Damascus to convince the Saudi Arabian, and Syrian governments to accept the disengagement agreement signed with the Israeli government ("Sinai II"), but was refused a meeting by the Syrian President, Hafez Al-Assad.^[18][19]

In addition, Mubarak was sent by Sadat to numerous meetings with foreign leaders.^[20] Mubarak's political significance as Vice-President can be seen from the fact that at a conversation held on 23 June 1975 between Foreign Minister Fahmy and US Ambassador Hermann Eilts, Fahmy said to Eilts that "Mobarek [sic] is, for the time being at least, likely to be a regular participant in all sensitive meetings" and he advised the Ambassador not to antagonize Mubarak, as he was Sadat's personal choice.^[21]

Following the assassination of President Sadat in October 1981 by a Jihad cell in the military led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, Hosni Mubarak became the fourth President of Egypt, and the Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP). He was the longest serving President of Egypt, his term lasting 29 years.