Entissar Amer doesn’t like to make media appearances. It wasn’t until 2014, when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in, that she appeared officially in public with him, though he made many public appearances prior as army chief.
Amer the president’s cousin on her mother’s side. They’ve known each other since they were children. Amer has admitted that al-Sisi was in love with her since high school, and the two were married quickly after graduation. Amer did pursue a college education after becoming a wife, and earned a bachelor of commerce in account from Ain-Shams University in Cairo.
Amer proudly says that she has dedicated her life to raising the four children she has with al-Sisi. Her role as his wife brought many opportunities for highly sought-after jobs, but she turned them down, preferring to work in the domestic realm. Al-Sisi and Amer have three sons–Mustafa, Mahmoud and Hassan–and one daughter named Aya.
Amer’s style has been described as conservative yet trendy. She often wears modern cropped blazers with decorative details accompanied by a more conservative hijab head wrap. One activist says the first lady’s look is “a clear message to those who call for a civilian state, and those who call for an Islamic state.” Amer is almost never seen out without a hijab, but she wears ones with a modern twist like leopard print designs.
In 2014, Amer visited a woman who had been the victim of a sexual gang assault in Tahrir Square. Amer and al-Sisi visited the victim at the Helmiya military hospital in Cairo and brought her flowers. Al-Sisi promised the victim a pilgrimage to Mecca at the state’s expense.
Amer is good friends with the former first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak. Mubarak allegedly played matchmaker between Amer and al-Sisi and played a large role in the two getting married.
Amer made her first trip abroad as first lady in 2015 when she accompanied her husband to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. They visited the country’s monarch, King Hamad II.
Long before making trips as first lady, Amer followed her husband throughout his education and training including to the U.K. when he continued his military education, as well as to the U.S. She also went with him to Saudi Arabia where he served as the military attache in the Egyptian Embassy.
In 2014, the Suez Canal underwent massive renovations and was nicknamed “Egypt’s Gift to the World.” It can now welcome more ships, and will serve as an industrial hub. Amer was very involved in motivating the workforce behind the project. She was present at the grand opening of the canal and accompanied her husband as he navigated the new infrastructure on a yacht.