Mahmoud Samy Pasha, breeder of *Exochorda on paper
Egyptian diplomat Mahmoud Samy Pacha appears as the owner of the 1924 chestnut mare *Exochorda (Aiglon x Leila II) in her export document from Egypt to the USA, on file with the Arabian Horse Association. That document was attested to by Dr. Branch, the Director of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt, and by the US vice-consul in Cairo.
The photo below from the Library of Congress website, dated June 1925, shows him with his wife Bassma Hanem upon their arrival to New York aboard the liner Majestic, following his appointment as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary for Egypt. [Footnote: Hanem (Khanem/Khanum, “Lady”) is a title for upper-class women in pre-1952 Egypt]. The next photo shows him at his desk in Washington, DC.
There is no other record of Mahmoud Samy Pasha as a breeder or owner of Arabian horses. Perphaps he appears as *Exochorda’s owner on paper because he facilitated her importation to the USA in his official capacity. The same pattern of putting a senior foreign service official as the breeder or owner on a horse’s importation papers can be observed with desert-bred Arabian stallion *Sunshine, imported by Albert Harris to the US in 1932. *Sunshine was born in the US, imported in utero, but Muhammad ‘Eid al-Rawwaf, the envoy of the Saudi Arabian kingdom to Syria in the 1930s, appears as his breeder on the papers of dam *Nufoud. His dam *Nufoud, and the three other Harris imports transited through Syria on their way from Saudi Arabia to the USA. The Saudi envoy to Syria helped with their importation papers.
Sunshine was an amazingly well conformed horse- at least to anyone who appreciates tough, substantial- ‘non fairy princess,’ type stallions. He had huge leg bone, a high set neck, very good eye indeed, and a refined yet functional face with room for his teeth, and a non restricter plate if you will, hint of dish on his face. He was just the kind of Arabian that the American Jockey club should be combing the Saudi Arabian countryside in search of to save our weedy, bad hoofed U.S. Thoroughbreds.
best
Bruce Peek