| Described by some people as a true "Renaissance Man", Farid Fadel was bom in 1958 in Assuit, Upper Egypt, into a family noted for both its musicians and its doctors. He has since excelled at medicine, art and music, taking all three gifts very seriously. In art, he has held twenty exhibitions; in music, he has given several recitals and concerts, and in medicine, he obtained his M. Sc. In Ophthalmology in addition to working as a practicing eye surgeon. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Ophthalmology in Cairo University. In 1973, Dr. Fadel was awarded the Pope's Medal and Vatican Award in an art contest with 50,000 participants, worldwide. In 1975, on inauguration of his fifth exhibition, the Egyptian Parliament granted him a trip to Italy to see Renaissance art, which had a strong influence on his style. He has taken part in several group shows, both in Egypt and abroad, such as the People's Show in Portland, Maine, USA (1982), where he displayed fifteen portraits. His fourteenth solo Exhibition was held at the Egyptian Cultural Center, Mayfair, London, 1989 and his sixteenth show in the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA. Some of his portraits were used as covers for Egyptian magazines. One of his paintings was chosen to be put on the back cover of the 1988 Nobel Prize Winner, Naguib Mahfouz's brochure.
Farid Fadel has completed the illustrations of a new Children's Bible with colored plates that follow a Middle Eastern approach to the stories of the New Testament. The three volumes were published in 1991, 1993 and 1995 and were best sellers at the Cairo International book fair.
Dr. Fadel has participated in "The Call for Peace" group exhibition during the Gulf War in 1991. He has also participated in two benevolence exhibitions to support the earthquake victims in 1992. For two successive years he has participated in the exhibition "Physician as Artist at Riverside hospital, Toledo,OH and has won the Blue Ribbon prize in 1997.
For the last sixteen years, Dr. Fadel has studied piano on his own. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Chopin. He has given piano recitals in Egypt and the USA. He also sings, in both baritone and tenor ranges; his interest is mainly in Christian music, and he sang the Tenor solos of Mozart's coronation mass, Vesperae solemnes and Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Puccini's Messa di Gloria and Handel's messiah with the Cairo Choral Society. He has recently performed the long tenor aria of Hiawathas's wedding feast accompanied by the Brigham Young Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he has a large repertoire of contemporary American Christian songs, and several recorded cassettes of his singing.
Dr. Fadel is married to Mona Zaki , Associate Director of Public Relations for Cultural Programs and Special Events at the American University in Cairo and has two daughters Dalia and Lily. Mona has beem employing her professional experience to administer Farid's organizational and promotional affairs.
(Biography updated from Who's who of intellectuals, IBC, Cambridge, 7th edition, 1988)
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