Emad Abou-Ghazi was born in the Egyptian city of Cairo in 1955, his parents were former minister of culture Badr El-Din Abu Ghazy and artist Reaya Helmy, his father's uncle was Egypt's number one sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar.
Abou -Ghazi is a renowned Egyptian historian and archivist. He is professor in archival studies at the Faculty of Arts , Cairo University since 2014. He earned his Bachelor's, Master’s and Doctorate degrees in the same specialization in 1982, 1988, and 1995, respectively.
He was secretary general of the supreme council of culture between 2009 and 2011 after ten years with the council as supervisor of the culture committees. He was appointed to the position of minister of culture in March 2011 but resigned in November of the same year in protest at the use of overwhelming force against unarmed demonstrators in Tahrir.
