Abdel Latif Boghdadi (politician)
Abdel Latif Boghdadi or Abd el-Latif el-Baghdadi was an Egyptian politician, senior air force officer, and judge. An original member of the Free Officers Movement which overthrew the monarchy in Egypt in the 1952 Revolution, Boghdadi later served as Gamal Abdel Nasser's vice president. The French author Jean Lacouture called Boghdadi "a robust manager" who only lacked "stature comparable to Nasser's." The two leaders had a falling out over Nasser's increasingly socialist and pro-USSR policies and Boghdadi subsequently withdrew from political life in 1964, although he mended ties with Nasser before the latter's death in 1970.
Boghdadi in 1958
The Free Officers in Cairo, 1952. Boghdadi is shown on the left next to Nasser.
Boghdadi (third from left) with President Gamal Abdel Nasser (second from left) and Ba'ath Party founders Michel Aflaq (first from left) and Salah al-Din al-Bitar (fourth from left) in Syria, 1963
Free Officers movement (Egypt)
The Free Officers were a group of revolutionary Egyptian nationalist officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces that instigated the Egyptian revolution of 1952. Initially started as a small rebellion military cell under Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf, which included Gamal Abdel Nasser, Hussein Hamouda, Khaled Mohieddin, Kamal el-Din Hussein, Salah Nasr, Abdel Hakim Amer, and Saad Tawfik, it operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers who were veterans of the Palestine War of 1948-1949 as well as earlier nationalist uprisings in Egypt in the 1940s. The nationally respected war hero Mohamed Naguib joined the Free Officers in 1949. Naguib's hero status, and influence within the army, granted the movement credibility, both within the military and the public at large. He became the official leader of the Free Officers during the turmoil leading up the revolution that toppled King Farouk in 1952. The Movement was succeeded by the Revolutionary Command Council after the overthrow of Farouk that was later succeeded by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
The Free Officers after toppling the monarchy, 1953. Counterclockwise: Zakaria Mohyeddin, Abdel Latif Boghdadi, Kamal Eddine Hessien (standing), Nasser (seated), Abdel Hakim Amer, Mohamed Naguib, Youssef Sedeek and Ahmad Shawki
Front row from left: Abdel Latif Boghdadi, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Mohamed Naguib, Abdel Hakim Amer, Salah Salem. Mohamed Anwar Sadat. Back row from left: Hussein el-Shafei, Khaled Mohieddin, Gamal Salem, Kamal el-Din Hussein, Hassan Ibrahim, Zakaria Mohieddin.
Abdel Latif Boghdadi (left) Gamal Abdel Nasser (center left) Salah Salem (center right) Abdel Hakim Amer (right).