The son of an Egyptian army officer, Kamil was trained as a lawyer at the French law school in Cairo and the Law Faculty at the University of Toulouse in France. In January 1893, as a university student Kamil first became famous when he led a group of students who destroyed the offices of the newspaper al-Muqattam which supported the British occupation of Egypt.[1] As a passionate nationalist, he supported Egypt's khedive, Abbas Hilmi II, who strongly opposed the British occupation. A protegee of Abbas Hilmi, whom he first met in 1892, it was the khedive who paid for Kamil to be educated in Toulouse.[2] The American historian Michael Laffan described Kamil as "...a spellbinding orator, tireless traveller, prolific writer and charismatic personality".[1] Kamil befriended the French Orientalist François Deloncle who promised to introduce him to French politicians, but instead gave him the job as his secretary, causing him to quit in disgust.[3]