With its Jews gone, Egypt lost its 'joie de vivre'

The Cotton Brokers (Photo: Camille Fox)

You could call it 'Juif de vivre' - the opulent lifestyle of the Jewish bourgeoisie in Egypt before the community's mass expulsion in the 1950s. Dinner in the Hotel du Nile, masked balls, outings to the cinema, a day at the races, a posh wedding at the Nebi Daniel synagogue, the gentlemen in their tarbushes discussing business in smoke-filled rooms, the ladies sipping tea in their pearls and the latest European fashions. Then there were scenes unimaginable today in Egypt: nuns strolling under the jacaranda trees, an unveiled girl on a bicycle.

Alexandria-born Camille Fox has recaptured this vanished world in her paintings. Her exhibition 'Celebration of a golden era ' opened in Jerusalem last week at the World Center for North African Jewish Heritage. 

Expelled by Nasser with her family as a child, Camille Fox moved in the 1950s to  a moshav (cooperative farm) in Israel founded by Egyptian Jews. Her grandmother traded Schiaparelli and French perfume for the stench of the refet (cowshed) and the dubious pleasure of chasing geese off muddy fields. 

It was on a return visit to Egypt in 2000 from Australia, where Camille now lives, that memories of her gilded girlhood and her grandparents' stories from the 1930s came flooding back - inspiring the 'Celebration of a Golden Era' paintings.

Egyptian historian Maged Farag flew in to Jerusalem from Egypt to open the exhibition. He praised the huge Jewish contribution to the country - "Egypt lost a lot when the Jews left", he said - and hoped they would one day return. He and Camille had forged 'an intimate Facebook friendship' in recent years.

Although Maged Farag was making a private visit, the exhibition opening seemed to herald a  thaw in Israeli-Egyptian relations. The announcement of his visit to Israel, Mr Farag said, drew 600 Facebook 'likes' and only one negative comment.

For their part, officials of the Israeli foreign ministry expressed their delight. Mrs Levana Zamir, president of the Israel-Egypt Friendship Association whose members were out in force at the event, returning from a three-day World Congress of Jews from Egypt, expressed her love for General al-Sisi, reputedly a friend of Mr Maged.

Perhaps a new era with Egypt has dawned. 

'Celebration of a Golden Era' runs at the World  Center for North African Jewish Heritage until 5 June 2015. 

Listen to an interview with Camille Fox and Maged Farag on Voice of Israel