Atiya Fyzee (1 August 1877 – 4 January 1967; also known as Atiya Fyzee-Rahamin, Atiya Begum, Shahinda, Atiya Begum Fyzee Rahamin) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

author and the first woman from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

to attend the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Life

Fyzee was born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in 1877 to an

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

Bohra family related to the Tyabjis.

Writings art and activism

She came to London to attend a teachers training college and she arranged for her diary to be published in India in 1907. Fyzee did not complete the course in London. Noted for her intellectualism, Fyzee's correspondences impressed contemporaries including

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

, Shibli Naumani,

Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari ( ur, ) (born 14 January 1900 – 21 December 1982) was a Pakistani Urdu-language poet who wrote the lyrics for the National Anthem of Pakistan

and Maulana Muhmmad Ali Jauhar. Her letters to her sister Zehra Fyzee were published later with Zehra editing them to tone down references of her affectionate platonic relationship with

There were contested gossips about her close friendships with the authors

Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

before she married Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin.

1912 to 1948

In 1912 Atiya Rahamin-Fyzee married Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin a bene Israeli Jew artist who converted to Islam to formalize his love relationship with her. After her marriage with Rahamin she traveled back to Europe and USA to visit art galleries. The couple also arranged exhibition on women's craft. She also addressed a gathering in one her visits about women in Indian history, and co-authored a book on Indian music with Rahamin and also choreographed two of Rahamins plays in London in 1940s. In 1926 at an educational conference at

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

, Fyzee defied expectations of

Purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

seclusion and addressed the gathering unveiled (without

Hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

) to demand equal rights with men to go about on God's earth freely and openly.

1948 to 1967 Karachi, Pakistan

Fyzee being neighbor of Jinnah in Mumbai, also closely linked with

, senior founder of Pakistan movement happened to shift to Karachi with her husband and sister in 1948 on invitation of Jinnah who also allotted a palatial residence to them in Karachi. They created an art and literary space at their new home which was named after their Mumbai residence. Post Jinnah's death the couple Atiya and Samuel were evicted from their house property allotted by Jinnah, also faced financial difficulties and had to live on assistance from other relatives abroad.

Death

Fyzee died in much reduced circumstances in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in 1967 and her husband died the following year. After they both died their home was open so that visitors could see their art collection. This continued until the 1990s when the collection was archived because the house was demolished.

Legacy

An incomplete project of cultural center in Karachi at her later evicted property.

References

Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan and Sunil Sharma, ''Atiya's Journeys: A Muslim Woman from Colonial Bombay to Edwardian Britain''. Oxford University Press.

External links

Details on

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Overview on
the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

1877 births 1967 deaths Indian Ismailis Sulaymani Bohras Writers from Istanbul 20th-century Indian women writers Pakistani women writers Tyabji family Expatriates from British India in the United Kingdom Expatriates in the Ottoman Empire Writers from British India Md. Mahmudul Hasan, "Atiya: The Most Iconoclastic of the Fyzee Sisters", Literature at Portsmouth, URL: http://englishliterature.port.ac.uk/?p=765 {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109143011/http://englishliterature.port.ac.uk/?p=765 , date=2020-11-09 Md. Mahmudul Hasan, “Islamic with Turkish Connections: Atiya’s and Zeyneb’s Counter-narratives to the West”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 25 March 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2021.1903160 Md. Mahmudul Hasan, “Travels to Metropolitan London: Experiences of Two Early Twentieth-century Muslim Women”, Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 25 Feb 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2021.1892512