Amin Al Rafii and Sheikh Ali Yussef were among the first who called for the creation of a press union. A meeting has been called upon in 1909, the same year where there was a first demonstration fighting for the freedom of the press, lead by the journalist Ahmad Hilmi the grand father of the late artist Salah Gahin. The authorization to form such a union was made during the Ministry of Hussein Sirri Pasha in 1941, after a series of demonstrations between 1909 and 1941. The British occupation forces and successive governments did all this period see a threat and an ennemy in a free press. In 1909 Amin Al Rafii did however issue a first by laws of the union and pushed for the election of the first president, what remained long illegal. The first official meeting of the General Assembly of the union was convened on December 5, 1941 at the Court of Appeal of Cairo, headed by Counselor Yassin Pasha Ahmad head of the court, with 110 journalists present aout of 124. Among the present were 4 women: Fatima Al Yussef, Minerva Abdel Hakim, Fatima Nehme and Nabawiya Mussa.The first elected borad members were Ibrahim Abdel Qader Al Mazini, Ahmad Qassem Goda, Antoine Al Gamil, Gabriel Takla, Galal Al Hamasi, Hafez Mahmood, Mohammad Khaled, Mohammad Abdel Qader Hamza, Mohammad Fikri Abaza, Mahmood Abul Fatah, Mostafa Al Kashashi and Mostafa Amin. December 6, the board met again and elected Mahmood abul Fatah President