Huda Sharawi

Huda Sharawi was a pioneering Egyptian feminist leader, nationalist, and activist who established numerous organizations dedicated to women’s rights and is considered the founder of the women’s movement in Egypt. She was born into a wealthy and influential family in Upper Egypt and was educated at home by tutors. She was married at the age of 13 to her cousin Ali Sharawi, who was a prominent politician and a founding member of the Wafd party. She lived in seclusion for seven years, during which she continued her education and became interested in social issues. She reconciled with her husband in 1900 and had two children with him. She was involved in various philanthropic and nationalist activities, such as founding a medical dispensary for poor women and children, supporting the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, and leading the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee. After her husband’s death in 1922, she shifted her focus to feminism and founded the Egyptian Feminist Union in 1923, which advocated for women’s suffrage, education, and legal reforms. She also became a symbol of women’s emancipation when she publicly removed her face veil upon returning from a women’s conference in Rome. She was the first president of the Arab Feminist Union and the vice president of the International Alliance of Women. She wrote several books and articles on women’s issues and published a feminist journal called L’Égyptienne. She died in Cairo in 1947 at the age of 68.