Hesham Yahya

Hesham Yahya was born in 1963 in Egypt. His exact birth date and birthplace have not been made public. He grew up to make Cairo his home and remained deeply attached to the Shubra district, where he lived for years among neighbours of every background, Muslim and Christian, poor and middle class, whom he affectionately called the stars of the street. Details about his parents and schooling have not been published in the sources available.

Formal details of Yahya's education have not been made public. He learned journalism largely in the newsroom, starting as a young writer at Shabab al-Ahrar in 1984. He named the veteran journalists Sayed Farghaly, Rashad Kamel and Amr Abdel Samie as his teachers in the art of the press interview, and he treasured working in 1986 under the writer Mahmoud Awad at Al-Ahrar.

Yahya's press career lasted about 35 years. After Shabab al-Ahrar and Al-Ahrar he worked as an editor at Al-Wafd and Al-Haqiqa, and he was part of the founding team of the first edition of Al-Dostour in the mid 1990s, where colleagues recall him heading the arts section. When that edition closed he moved into television as a programme preparer for Arab Radio and Television (ART), working alongside the writer Louis Greiss and contributing to the entertainment programme Sahraya. He also wrote the acted segments for a radio programme presented by Mohamed Nashaat.

He later worked for the Cairo newspaper Ain and then in the United Arab Emirates, writing for the daily Al Watan and serving as managing editor of a heritage magazine about camels issued by a centre named for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan. Back in Cairo he wrote for Al-Maqal for about a year and then became a regular contributor to Akhbar El Nogoum, the arts weekly of the Akhbar El Yom foundation. He was a frequent television and radio guest, discussing the lives and backstage stories of Abdel Halim Hafez, Umm Kulthum, Zeinat Sedki, Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Mahmoud Yassin, among others.

Yahya's book Qabd al-Rih.. Ayyam wa Rahat (Grasping the Wind.. Days That Have Gone), published by Rawafed, recalls people and episodes from his years in journalism and the arts world. Egyptian outlets describe it as his novel, while friends saw it as a professional memoir. He discussed it on the Nile Culture channel in May 2016.

In cinema he wrote the idea, screenplay and dialogue for Al-Dassas, a horror comedy released in Egypt on 21 May 2014, directed by Hany Hamdy and starring Lotfy Labib, Ahmed Fathy, Eman El-Sayed and Bayoumi Fouad, with Zeina as a guest star. He also wrote the story and screenplay for Saat Reda (Reda's Watch), a 2019 comedy directed by Hany Hamdy and produced by Ahmed El Sobky, starring Ahmed Fathy, Mohamed Tharwat, Hala Fakher, Dina Fouad and Shaimaa Seif.

Yahya never married. He lived in Shubra, kept a cat he named Anisa because she eased his solitude, and was remembered by friends as a smiling man who never burdened others with his troubles. His brothers include Mustafa and the broadcaster Maher Abdelaziz, described by a colleague as a former head of the Nile Radio company. His niece Lubna Yahya announced his death. In his later years he left journalism and ran a small, good humoured trade in Mallawi cheese and other country foods, delivering orders around Cairo with the help of a young assistant.

Yahya believed the long press interview was a craft that depended on trust between journalist and subject, and he felt today's stars rarely gave journalists the access that earlier generations had enjoyed. In a conversation with Mohamed Abdelaziz on his programme Arsheef Sahafi (Press Archive) he urged current editors in chief to give young journalists room to grow, arguing that they were students rather than rivals and that their success would ultimately be credited to those who gave them a chance. He also championed what he called street journalism, writing about ordinary people in his neighbourhood.

Yahya is remembered as one of the familiar voices of Egyptian arts journalism and an archivist of stories about the country's cinema and music. His interviews, his book and his television appearances preserve many anecdotes about Egypt's cultural life, and his two produced screenplays reached cinema audiences in 2014 and 2019. His late life turn to selling cheese became, for many colleagues, a symbol of the hardships faced by veteran journalists as print media declined.

No formal awards for Yahya have been documented in the sources available. After his death he was mourned publicly by the Akhbar El Yom foundation and its chairman Islam Afifi and by the ART television network.

Yahya appeared on Egyptian broadcasters including Nile Culture (with Khaled Mansour, discussing his book in 2016), ON (on the career of Mahmoud Yassin), Alfa TV (on Zeinat Sedki, Faten Hamama and Mohamed Abdel Wahab), Al-Hadath Al-Youm (on the programme Masaha Hurra with Ibrahim Othman in 2021) and Nogoum FM (on the films of Abdel Halim Hafez). A street report by the channel Cairo and People introduced him as the journalist who became "Hesham the cheese man" after 25 years in the press.

Yahya was hospitalised for several weeks before his death. He died on Monday 5 October 2026, aged 63, after a short struggle with illness. The specific cause has not been made public. His family announced the news on Facebook, and his funeral prayers were held after the noon prayer that day at the Khaled Ibn al-Walid mosque in Kit Kat. Tributes followed from Akhbar El Yom chairman Islam Afifi, from ART, and from colleagues including the writer Belal Fadl.