He appeared in the first issue of Caricature, of which he was a founding editor. He received the Press Syndicate Award in 1986 and 1989 and the Mustafa and Ali Amin Award in 1999, and was honoured at the second Arab Forum of Pioneering Cartoonists in 2018.

He also judged the caricature section of the Syndicate Merit Prize for many years. A wing of the Caricature Museum in Fayoum is dedicated to his work.

Gomaa worked with Al-Ahram Weekly from its inception in 1991, documenting and commenting on the Gulf War and the Palestinian cause among other regional and international affairs. Together with such luminary cartoonists as Bahgory and Gamil Shafik – as well as Ragai Wanis, Fathi Abul-Ezz, Usama and Qassem and this writer – he made it one of the richest Egyptian publications visually.

Though a gifted portraitist – he often gifted coworkers like artist Raouf Ayyad with inventive and poignant images of themselves – Gomaa was nonetheless drawn to the political cartoon. His style stands out for its strong, unwavering lines, presented in black and white as a rule (only his Al-Ahram Al-Arabi cartoons were in colour), which helped to communicate the idea.

Having refused to travel to the Gulf in the second half of last century, demand grew even further for his work at home, and he contributed to oppositional as well as state-supported publications. His work also appeared in the US via the agency of Jerry Robinson. His work was also often collected in book form, with volumes such as Hot Hot World, 4 Governments and an Opposition, and Blood Peace. He also hosted a TV show on caricature.

I had the good fortune of working and travelling with and learning from Gomaa, a thoroughly erudite, civilised and generous person. His friends included the journalist Adel Hammouda and the writer Fakhri Youssef, and his students are too many to count. Despite his illness he was active till the last moment, phoning me twice to congratulate me on an award I had received. The second call would have felt unnecessary had it not also felt like goodbye.

Gomaa was a member of the Egyptian Caricature Association, founded by Zohdi, which he also headed from 2015 till the end of his life. He appeared in the first issue of Caricature, of which he was a founding editor. He received the Press Syndicate Award in 1986 and 1989 and the Mustafa and Ali Amin Award in 1999, and was honoured at the second Arab Forum of Pioneering Cartoonists in 2018.

He also judged the caricature section of the Syndicate Merit Prize for many years. A wing of the Caricature Museum in Fayoum is dedicated to his work. Gomaa worked with Al-Ahram Weekly from its inception in 1991, documenting and commenting on the Gulf War and the Palestinian cause among other regional and international affairs. Together with such luminary cartoonists as Bahgory and Gamil Shafik – as well as Ragai Wanis, Fathi Abul-Ezz, Usama and Qassem and this writer – he made it one of the richest Egyptian publications visually.

Though a gifted portraitist – he often gifted coworkers like artist Raouf Ayyad with inventive and poignant images of themselves – Gomaa was nonetheless drawn to the political cartoon.

His style stands out for its strong, unwavering lines, presented in black and white as a rule (only his Al-Ahram Al-Arabi cartoons were in colour), which helped to communicate the idea. Having refused to travel to the Gulf in the second half of last century, demand grew even further for his work at home, and he contributed to oppositional as well as state-supported publications. His work also appeared in the US via the agency of Jerry Robinson. His work was also often collected in book form, with volumes such as Hot Hot World, 4 Governments and an Opposition, and Blood Peace. He also hosted a TV show on caricature.

I had the good fortune of working and travelling with and learning from Gomaa, a thoroughly erudite, civilised and generous person. His friends included the journalist Adel Hammouda and the writer Fakhri Youssef, and his students are too many to count. Despite his illness he was active till the last moment, phoning me twice to congratulate me on an award I had received. The second call would have felt unnecessary had it not also felt like goodbye.

Gomaa was a member of the Egyptian Caricature Association, founded by Zohdi, which he also headed from 2015 till the end of his life. He appeared in the first issue of Caricature, of which he was a founding editor.

He received the Press Syndicate Award in 1986 and 1989 and the Mustafa and Ali Amin Award in 1999, and was honoured at the second Arab Forum of Pioneering Cartoonists in 2018. He also judged the caricature section of the Syndicate Merit Prize for many years. A wing of the Caricature Museum in Fayoum is dedicated to his work. Gomaa worked with Al-Ahram Weekly from its inception in 1991, documenting and commenting on the Gulf War and the Palestinian cause among other regional and international affairs. Together with such luminary cartoonists as Bahgory and Gamil Shafik – as well as Ragai Wanis, Fathi Abul-Ezz, Usama and Qassem and this writer – he made it one of the richest Egyptian publications visually.

Though a gifted portraitist – he often gifted coworkers like artist Raouf Ayyad with inventive and poignant images of themselves – Gomaa was nonetheless drawn to the political cartoon.

His style stands out for its strong, unwavering lines, presented in black and white as a rule (only his Al-Ahram Al-Arabi cartoons were in colour), which helped to communicate the idea. Having refused to travel to the Gulf in the second half of last century, demand grew even further for his work at home, and he contributed to oppositional as well as state-supported publications. His work also appeared in the US via the agency of Jerry Robinson. His work was also often collected in book form, with volumes such as Hot Hot World, 4 Governments and an Opposition, and Blood Peace. He also hosted a TV show on caricature.

I had the good fortune of working and travelling with and learning from Gomaa, a thoroughly erudite, civilised and generous person. His friends included the journalist Adel Hammouda and the writer Fakhri Youssef, and his students are too many to count. Despite his illness he was active till the last moment, phoning me twice to congratulate me on an award I had received. The second call would have felt unnecessary had it not also felt like goodbye.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 30 September, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly