elisa sednaoui was born in bra, piedmont, italy and raised between three countries, egypt, italy, and france. she spent much of her early life in luxor and zamalek, cairo. her mother is of italian heritage, while her father has syrian-egyptian and french roots. the sednaoui family, a melkite greek catholic family of syrian descent, finds its roots in the city of sednaya, from where their surname originates. the sednaoui family migrated to egypt at the end of the 19th century and developed successful department stores in cairo.