Auction of Omar Sharif’s Memorabilia Raises Questions about Ownership

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif holds up the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29, 2003. Photo by Tony Gentile/Reuters
Egyptian actor Omar Sharif holds up the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29, 2003. Photo by Tony Gentile/Reuters
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Auction of Omar Sharif’s Memorabilia Raises Questions about Ownership

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif holds up the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29, 2003. Photo by Tony Gentile/Reuters
Egyptian actor Omar Sharif holds up the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 29, 2003. Photo by Tony Gentile/Reuters

A French auction site announced it’s selling some of the late star Omar Sharif’s memorabilia, which raised question marks about the ownership of these pieces, and how did the site acquire them.

“The late star didn’t have an apartment or house outside Egypt where he could leave his memorabilia. He used to stay in hotels, carrying with him a black suit and some shirts. He always told me, (I have nothing that can be sold. I live in hotels, and I have one suit)”, Egyptian archeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawas, who was a close friend with the late star, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hawas denied the allegations that some shared on social media, accusing his son, Tarek, of selling his father’s possessions, saying: “Some claim that his son, Tarek, is selling his father’s possessions, which is not true.”

Hawas noted that “Omar Sharif kept nothing when he was alive, and that his French private assistant used to take care of all his papers. So, I can’t confirm how these items got on sale, or whether they are real or fake.”

“The weirdest thing I could ever imagine to be auctioned is Omar Sharif’s coat, bank cards, and his membership card in the French equestrian union,” Producer Hossam Alwan wrote on Facebook, where he also shared a photo of these memorabilia, and one showing the late actor wearing the auctioned coat.”

Tarek, the son, commented on Alwan’s post, saying: “More information would be highly appreciated. I reported the incident to the police in Egypt and France. If those possessions are real, this means they are stolen.”

The memorabilia on auction include a coat that Sharif wore in the “Top Secret” film (1984), valued at 300 euros, alongside several personal cards, according to the auction site.

Critic Majida Maurice believes that someone stole Omar Sharif during his travels between the US and Europe, probably during his last illness, as the same thing happened with the memorabilia of Ahmed Zaki and Nour El-Sherif. “This is the worst time to sell the memorabilia of Omar Sharif, amidst the Russian-Ukrainian war which affected the whole world, including the wealthy countries. It’s a sad thing,” Maurice told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I wish the ministry of culture could take care of this auction the same way it does with looted and recovered antiquities. History is not limited to Pharaohs. These memorabilia belong to great artists who have always made Egypt proud in international cinema events,” she added.

This incident reminded people of the Cinema Museum that was announced by the culture ministry years ago but never accomplished. “I believe the ministry of culture should work faster to establish the cinema museum, which could display the memorabilia of stars who influenced the Egyptian cinema. I hope Tarek Sharif could keep the memorabilia of his father and mother, late star Faten Hamama, because the cinema museum will open one day, and I expect it to lure a great audience,” Maurice said.

The auction is taking place seven years after the death of Omar Sharif (he died on July 5, 2015), aged 83, to conclude a journey that debuted in Egypt, with esteemed director Youssef Chahine, in “The Blazing Sun” film (1954), which he co-starred with Faten Hamama. The movie was followed by many leading roles in several films including “Lady of the Palace”, “Love River”, and “A man in our house”. Then, Sharif kicked off his international path in David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), followed by “Doctor Zhivago”, “The Yellow Rolls-Royce”, and many others.



Beijing Issues Weather Warning for Hottest Days of Year

A woman wearing sun protective clothing rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing on June 23, 2025.  (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
A woman wearing sun protective clothing rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing on June 23, 2025. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
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Beijing Issues Weather Warning for Hottest Days of Year

A woman wearing sun protective clothing rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing on June 23, 2025.  (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
A woman wearing sun protective clothing rides a bicycle along a street in Beijing on June 23, 2025. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Beijing residents sought shade and cooled off in canals on Monday as authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the Chinese capital on one of its hottest days of the year so far.

China has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years, with heatwaves baking northern regions even as parts of the south have seen catastrophic rain and flooding.

Authorities in the city of 22 million people urged the public to take precautions, with temperatures expected to peak at around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.

"It's been really hot lately, especially in the past few days," intern Li Weijun told AFP on Monday afternoon.

The 22-year-old said he had stopped wearing formal clothes to work and delayed his daily exercise until after 10:00 pm to stay safe.

"I think it's related to climate change, and maybe also to the damage done to nature," he said.

An orange heat warning -- the second-highest in a three-tier system -- was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke.

Construction workers should "shorten the amount of time consecutively spent at labor", while elderly, sick or weakened individuals ought to "avoid excessive exertion", according to the guidelines.

Zhang Chen, 28, said she carried an umbrella outdoors to prevent sunburn.

"I used to ride a bike, but once it gets this hot, I basically stop doing that," the IT worker told AFP.

Despite the beating sun, legions of delivery drivers zipped through downtown areas at noon to bring sustenance to Beijing's office workers.

A few lazed on the backs of their scooters in a shady spot, while elsewhere, people cooled off with ice creams or by taking a dip in the city's canals.

- Climate giant -

Beijing is still a few degrees short of breaking its record for the hottest-ever June day, set at 41.1C in 2023.

Human greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change that causes longer, more frequent and more intense heatwaves.

China is the world's largest producer of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, though it has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by the end of this decade and to net zero by 2060.

The country has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy in recent years as it seeks to pivot its massive economy away from highly polluting coal consumption.

In a shady spot near an office building, 42-year-old Lucy Lu spent her lunch break with friends, kicking a shuttlecock through the air -- a traditional Chinese game known as "jianzi".

"I was born and raised in Beijing, and summer here has always been like this," she said.

"But I do think when the temperature goes over 40C, there should be some time off or work-from-home options to reduce the risk of heatstroke."