Born in Helmia district, Cairo on 4 September 1905, El Hussein Fawzi was known in Egypt and the Middle East for his pioneering work in the field of journalistic graphic arts.

For two decades (1950 - 1970) he was a renowned book and press graphic illustrator.

His illustrations were seen on magazine covers of Akher Saa, El Risala El Gedida and the child magazine Ali Baba.

He was also the illustrator for many writings such as, the stories of Youssef El Sebai, El Gumhuria series "Omar Makram's Life" - which ran in 340 daily episodes - and for Naguib Mahfouz's novel Awlad Haretna, published in series in Al Ahram.

He also did the colored drawings for the two volume Massaged El Kahira (Cairo Mosques) that was published by the Ministry of Wakfs in 1951, and for the Minarets of Cairo, published by Dar El Kateb EL Arabi.

Fawzi began his artistic studies in 1922 at the School Of Fine Arts, studying oil painting.

He won the first prize at an art competition for which he received an art fellowship in 1928 and entered the printing school in Paris, from which he received a lithography diploma in 1932.

He was an artist and professor of oil painting before joining the Paris Higher School of Arts and Decoration from which he received a diploma in 1933.

Fawzi was also awarded an honorary degree for an oil painting exhibited at the 1939 French Salon.

Although Fawzi's fame was as a graphic artist he also had an active career in the fine arts.

Upon his return to Egypt, he founded the Department of Graphic Arts at Faculty of Fine Arts and later was appointed director of the department, a position he held until his retirement.

He also supervised the Fine Arts Studio in Luxor from 1954 to 1960. Fawzi was one of four Egyptian artists to have their work engraved on crystal by the Steuben glass factory in New York (others were Gamal El Seguini, Hamed Abd Allah and Hussein Bikar).

Fawzi was awarded the State Prize and Order of Sciences and Arts in 1963, and in the same year, won the Lithography prize at the Alexandria Biennial.

In 1989 he was awarded the State Prize of Merit.