Asma Tubi (1905–1983) was a Palestinian writer.

Biography

She was born into a

Palestinian Christian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

family in Nazareth and was educated at the English school there. She studied Greek and then the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

, to improve her writing skills in Arabic. Tubi moved to Acre after being married. She was a founding member of the Women's Union there. She was also a member of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

and the Young Orthodox Women's Association and served as president of the Arab Women's Union. Tubi appeared on local radio stations, including Huna al-Quds ("Jerusalem here") and Sharq Al-Adna ("Near East") in Jaffa. She also appeared on a radio show in Beirut in 1948. She was editor of the

women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...

for the newspaper ''

Falastin ''Falastin'' ( ar, فلسطين), meaning Palestine in Arabic, was an Arabic-language Palestinian newspaper. Founded in 1911 in Jaffa, ''Falastin'' began as a weekly publication, evolving into one of the most influential dailies in Ottoman and ...

'' and for the magazines ''Al Ahad'' and ''

Kull shay The Arabic-language non-political weekly magazine ''Kull shay'' (Arabic: كل شىء; DMG: Kull šayʾ; English: Everything) was first published in Cairo in 1925. The magazine produced a total of 105 issues until its closure in 1927. It was publ ...

magazine. She published poetry, plays and fiction, including a number of works in English. When she was forced to leave Palestine in 1948, she left behind a book manuscript called The Arab Palestinian Woman. In 1955, she published a collection of stories titled: ''Aḥādīth min al-qalb'' (“Stories from the heart"). Also, Tubi began writing plays in 1925. Tubi was considered one of few the Palestinian women writing before 1948, but it was not until after 1948 that Palestinian women's fiction was consolidated artistically. Tubi died in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in 1983.

Awards

She was awarded the Lebanese Constantine the Great Award in 1973 and the Jerusalem Medal for Culture and Arts (posthumously) in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tubi, Asma 1905 births 1983 deaths Palestinian women writers Palestinian journalists Palestinian women journalists Palestinian women poets Palestinian human rights activists Women human rights activists Palestinian women activists People from Nazareth Women's page journalists 20th-century journalists