Professor Abbas Helmy Hassan was born in Cairo on 9 November 1913 and died there on 22 March 2003. He earned several degrees from Cairo University: Bachelor of Science in Medicine and Surgery in 1938, Diploma of Neurology in 1942 and MD in General Medicine in 1944. He was elected to the Foundation Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1971.

At Ain Shams University School of Medicine, Professor Hassan founded the Department of Neuropsychiatry in 1954 together with its specialist MD in Neuropsychiatry and was the head of the department from its creation in 1954 until his retirement in 1973. He also established the clinical neurophysiology and physiotherapy units in the Neuropsychiatry Department in 1961 and 1963, respectively.

Professor Hassan was the President of the Egyptian Society of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery for 6 years during which he was involved in establishing the Pan African and Pan Arab Unions of Neurological Sciences and presided over their first meetings. He also was a member of the World Federation of Neurology. He published Neurology in Medical Practice (for undergraduates) in 1960 and Clinical Neurology (for postgraduates) in 1964. He was awarded the Arab Republic of Egypt’s First Degree Medal in Science and Arts in 1981.

Professor Hassan was a remarkably accomplished physician, teacher and researcher whose life was dedicated to neurology. He will long be remembered for his role in the establishment of neuropsychiatry in Ain Shams University in Egypt.