São Paulo – Last January, Brazil lost one of his great masters of Arab culture and advocate of Eastern causes. An Egyptian who lived in Brazil for 40 years, Mohamed Ezz El-Din Mostafa Habib build a prominent academic career in biology and the environment and played a remarkable role to promote Arab culture and causes. On Thursday (6), his family received the title of Emeritus Professor on his behalf at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). Mohamed’s son Nader Habib said the title is an achievement not only for his father but for all society. Pictured above, Nader Habib (L) receives the diploma from dean Antonio Meirelles.
Mohamed Habib was a professor retired from the Institute of Biology (IB) of Unicamp and passed away on January 26 from a cancer. The grant of the title had been approved by the University Council (Consu) on March 29. Friends of the university attended the event that featured a performance of musicians of the Symphonic Orchestra of Unicamp in a tribute to Habib for his appreciation for music. On the occasion, the family of Mohamed was represented by his son Nader Habib.
In his speech, Nader thanked the tributes paid by faculty and staff members that lived with Mohamed throughout his career in Unicamp and recalled lessons from his father, such as the sense of commitment with the collective. “A strong country evolves as a whole. If we don’t see that individual failures are also failures of our society, celebrating the achievements is meaningless as neither of them takes place individually. They all take place in society,” Nader said.
Mohamed’s son stressed that despite the sadness from missing his father, cultivating the joy of remembering the good times is a way to value his legacy. “Using the phrase ‘I lost someone’ is negative. To ease our hearts, we shouldn’t think we lost anyone. The people we love have simply gone back to their origin. Soon we’ll do too, this is an undeniable fact of live,” he said.
The board of the ceremony was made up by dean Antonio Meirelles, general coordinator Maria Luiza Moretti, IB director Hernandes Faustino de Carvalho, Institute of Geosciences professor Alvaro Penteado Crosta.
Crosta remembered fondly the life with Habib, who used to call him his “younger brother”, and celebrated his commitment to strengthening university extension actions and how his work was focused on the good of the community. “His entire academic career since Egypt was based on fundamental principles that express his concern with the health and the well-being of the human beings, the environment, and the sustainable development of our society,” Crosta said. The IB’s director also shared his experiences with Mohamed. “I’m very proud now to hold the office he held for two terms”, he pointed out.
The dean and the general coordinator of Unicamp stressed how humanely Mohamed developed his actions in the university. Maria Luiza Moretti pointed out the occasions when she invited him to speak at events that gathered foreigners from Portuguese-speaking African countries for his ability to connect with others. “What I loved about professor Mohamed was how he elevated the human being and how this translated in his actions and his work,” Moretti said.
“The great example that Mohamed leaves us is the willingness to build bonds with society, that the college educational system in São Paulo plays a crucial role in development, and this can be done with inclusion, respect for people’s rights and the environment,” dean Meirelles pointed out. He believes the example of Habib is crucial for the universities to fully play their role. “May we use all these examples to ensure the continuity of our mission and be able to have new Mohameds in our university,” he said.
Here’s more on this: Mohamed Habib, a master of Arab culture, passes away
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
