Born in 1951 in a rambling brick house where geese and ducks roamed freely in the dusty Nile Delta village of Edwa, north of Cairo, Mr Morsi was the eldest of five brothers.

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Mr Morsi claims to have disliked life in America, but two of his sons were born there and he lingered for several years after earning a doctorate before heading home to teach at the University of Zagazig, up the road from Edwa.

ECONOMIST: Muhammad Morsi: An ordinary man | The