Photo: Chatham House / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Bassem Youssef fascinates me because of the leap he made. A cardiac surgeon in Cairo who traded the operating room for satire during the Arab Spring is not someone playing it safe. Using comedy to challenge power takes a different kind of nerve than holding a scalpel, and his 2013 CPJ International Press Freedom Award says the world noticed the cost. What I respect most is the throughline: whether saving hearts or skewering hypocrisy, he stays in the business of telling hard truths. Now an Egyptian-American voice still speaking up, he's proof that humor, wielded honestly, can be a serious act of courage.
Overview
Bassem Raafat Mohamed Youssef (Arabic: باسم رأفت محمد يوسف, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈbæːsem ˈɾɑʔfɑt mæˈħæmmæd ˈjuːsef]; born 21 March 1974) is an Egyptian-American comedian, television host, actor and former physician.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bassem Youssef
- Name (Japanese)
- バッセム・ユセフ
- Reading
- ばっせむ・ゆせふ
- Born
- March 21, 1974 (age 52)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Tiger
- Origin
- Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- cardiac surgeon / satirist / columnist / television producer / writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Cairo University Kasr Alainy Faculty of Medicine
Awards & achievements
- 2013 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.