Eugen Karl Orff

By the end of the Great Realignment, the Electorate and Archduchy of Saxony had become a notable player in the Mediterranean, mostly through their control of Malta [details?] and, more lastingly, through majority ownership of the half-completed, half-assed Egyptian Canal. Saxon money and Saxon engineers saw that crumbling vanity project to its conclusion, cementing Saxon importance not only in the Mediterranean but the Levant as well.

Nearly a century after its completion, however, most of the names of that great work have passed into history. Only historians know the original builders of the Canal before it was abandoned. Only economists know the names of the diplomats who acquired the rights to the site, or the engineers who redesigned it. Even the Egyptians have forgotten the names of their own who toiled and died bringing that national folly to fruition.

One name, remains common knowledge, and is given far more credit for the completion of the Canal than even he was willing to accept. Even if they know nothing about what he did to earn that name, everybody knows "Eugen of Egypt": gunfighter, financial wizard, the man involved (somehow) with the Canal, and infamous apostate.

Eugen of Egypt was baptized Eugen Karl Orff. This is his story.

Eugen Orff before the Canal project

Eugen Orff was born around the turn of the century [when?], the son of a Saxon engineer and a devout Catholic mother. [who?] He had several siblings, of which the only one I know at present is Theodor, who also accompanied him to Egypt (and eventually became a monk under the name Paphnutius.) Like his father and brother, he was sent to a Realgymnasium [details?], from which he graduated with high marks and a reputation for being intelligent and dullingly methodical.

Eugen's early work was mostly in the Low Countries, working on improving the polders (which had been badly damaged in the wars not so long ago.) Once it became known that the Canal project was a thing, [when?] his brother Theodor (fearing a new Franco-German war in the near future) signed on, and at his brother's request Eugen applied for a position as well. To his surprise, Eugen was hired, and duly made arrangements for travel. In particular, before he left he purchased something that would become iconic because of him, and a core part of his mythos: a .34 caplock revolver, one of the first in Europe at the time.

Eugen Orff on the Canal

After a stop in Malta (where Eugen picked up a surprisingly good grasp of Maltese), he arrived in Egypt, which was (at this point) a mess. The Canal had been started, and stopped, once before; a lot of work needed to be redone, and there were considerable debates about what route the Canal was going to take. Eugen Orff was assigned as a surveyor, and eventually a director of surveying, for the stretch between the Ballah lakes and Lake Timsah.

• Partly to supplement his income at the time, Eugen became a newspaper correspondent. [details?]
• At some point in the construction of the Canal, his revolver actually saw use - the first known shots fired from a revolver in Africa. By all accounts Eugen handled himself considerably well. [details?]

It was at this point that both he and his brother Theodor first came into contact with the Copts, leading up to their conversion a few years later.

• Eugen was initially silent about his conversion, but it was leaked to the press. When it made the news in Europe, the Orff brothers were officially excommunicated, and Eugen lost his job as a correspondent abruptly. In particular, his devoutly Catholic mother rewrote her will, denying them their inheritance.
• Once the surveying work is done, Eugen Orff gets involved in arguments over the building of the Canal. It's at this time that he first comes to the Sharif's attention, where he makes the case for his opinions on the grounds that it would complete the Canal more cheaply. The Sharif (who has no head for money) is unimpressed, but his advisers are; the Canal winds up hugely over-budget, but not quite as much as it ought to have been.

Without significant assets to return to, and with Theodor becoming increasingly observant (he would enter the Monastery of St. Anthony), the Orff brothers decided to stay in Egypt.

"Eugen of Egypt"

During his time in Egypt, Eugen (possessing as he does a remarkable familiarity with both European and Egyptian finances) establishes a place in the Sharif's court, and a reputation for good economic advice.

A few years later, a friend of a friend [who?] meets Orff again, and persuades him to start writing his autobiography. He does, which is published as the Egyptian Diary and makes him a celebrity at home - prompting a return to Germany, where he's feted as a hero of sorts.

• There is, however, an awkward time spent dealing with his mother, who is not happy to see him. He's also approached by a priest or two, who attempt to bring him back into the fold; the arguments are inconclusive, but build his mythos a fair bit.

Eugen dies from a crocodile attack while swimming. He's actually rescued, but never recovers consciousness and dies from blood loss a day or two later.

The legacy of Eugen Orff

So what exactly is this guy notable for?

• Amongst the Copts, Eugen Orff is a bit of a cultural hero. If and when the jizya would've been abolished without him can be debated, but it's safe to say that his life and work hastened its end.
• The Egyptian Diary also inspired a shallow but abiding Saxon interest in all things Coptic. It wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as, say, the Syrophilia that followed the Nestorian Epistles, but the Syro-Indian churches of Paris haven't aged nearly as gracefully as the Coptic communities of Meissen. (The long-term impact of the Coptic Catholic Church's progressive whitening remains to be seen.)

This is a work in progress. It will be expanded upon.