Jehan Sadat ( ar, جيهان السادات ''Jihān as-Sadāt'', ; née Safwat Raouf; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist, the
First Lady of Egypt
First Lady of Egypt ( ar, سيدة مصر الأولى) is the unofficial title of the wife of the president of Egypt.
History
Naglaa Mahmoud, wife of former president Mohamed Morsi (2012–2013), rejected the title of First Lady, preferring to ...
from 1970 until her husband's
assassination in 1981. As Egypt's first lady, she greatly influenced the reform of the country's civil rights legislation. Advance laws, referred to as the "Jehan Laws", have given women in Egypt a range of new rights, such as the right to child support and custody in the event of divorce.
Early years
Jehan Sadat, also spelled Jihan, was born Jehan Safwat Raouf ( ar, جيهان صفوت رؤوف ''Jīhān Ṣafwat Raʼūf'' ) in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Egypt, as the first girl and third child of an upper-middle-class family of an Egyptian surgeon father, Safwat Raouf, and English music teacher mother, Gladys Cotterill. Her mother was the daughter of Charles Henry Cotterill, a
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
City police superintendent. She was raised as a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, according to her father's wishes, but also attended a Christian secondary school for girls in Cairo.
As a teenage schoolgirl, she was intrigued by Anwar Sadat as a local hero, through following reports in the media about his adventures, in addition to his courage, loyalty, and determination in resisting the
British occupation of Egypt
The history of Egypt under the British lasted from 1882, when it was occupied by British forces during the Anglo-Egyptian War, until 1956 after the Suez Crisis, when the last British forces withdrew in accordance with the Anglo-Egyptian agree ...
. She heard many stories about him from her cousin, whose husband was his colleague in resistance, and later in prison.
It was at her 15th birthday party that she first met her future husband Sadat, shortly after his release from prison, where he had served two and a half years for his political activities.
The couple married on 29 May 1949, after some hesitation, and objections from her parents to the idea of their daughter marrying a jobless revolutionary. He was 30, while she was 15. Anwar Sadat was subsequently part of the core members of the
Free Officers Movement that led the
Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which overthrew the
monarchy of Egypt and Sudan.
As First Lady
Over the course of 32 years, Sadat was a supportive wife for her husband, who, in his rising political career, would go on to become
President of Egypt
The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyp ...
. The couple had three daughters, Noha, Jihan, Lobna, and a son, Gamal.
Sadat became First Lady of Egypt in 1970, and used her platform to touch the lives of millions inside her country, serving as a role model for women everywhere. She helped change the world's image of Arab women during the 1970s, while undertaking volunteer work, and participating in non-governmental service to the less fortunate.
Non-governmental services
Sadat played a key role in reforming Egypt's
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
laws during the late 1970s. Often called "Jehan's Laws", new statutes advanced by her granted women a variety of new rights, including those to
alimony
Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial suppo ...
and custody of children in the event of divorce.
After visiting wounded soldiers at the
Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...
front during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
in 1967, she founded
al Wafa' Wa Amal
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
(Faith and Hope)
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
Center, which offers disabled war veterans medical and rehabilitation services and vocational training. The center is supported by donations from around the world and now serves visually impaired children and has a worldwide known music and choir band.
She also played crucial roles in the formation of the Talla Society, a cooperative in the
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
region which
assists local women in becoming self-sufficient, the Egyptian Society for
Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
Patients, the
Egyptian Blood Bank, and
SOS Children's Villages
SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children in need and protect ...
in Egypt, an organization that provides orphans new homes in a family environment.
She headed the Egyptian delegation to the
UN International Women's Conferences in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. She founded the Arab-African Women's League. As an activist, she hosted and participated in numerous conferences throughout the world concerning women's issues, children's welfare, and peace in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
On 6 October 1981, Sadat's husband was assassinated by members of the
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...
during the annual
victory parade
A victory parade is a parade held to celebrate a victory. Numerous military and sport victory parades have been held.
Military victory parades
Among the most famous parades are the victory parades celebrating the end of the First World War a ...
held in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
to celebrate
Operation Badr. This ended both his presidency and her period as First Lady, which had lasted for nearly 11 years.
Education
Sadat gained a
BA in
Arabic Literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...
at
Cairo University
Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
in 1977. This was followed by a
MA in Comparative Literature in 1980, and
PhD in Comparative Literature in 1986, both at the same university.
In 1986, Sadat was controversially paid a salary of $350,000 to teach for three semesters by
James B. Holderman at the University of South Carolina.
After completing her education, Sadat became a teacher at the Cairo Artist and Performance Center.
Later years and death
![JehanSadat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/JehanSadat.jpg)
Sadat was a senior fellow at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
(where The Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development has also been endowed).
She also wrote an
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, ''A Woman of Egypt'' (), published by
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
in 1987, as well as poetry in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, under a
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
. Her second memoir, ''My Hope for Peace'', was released in March 2009.
Jehan Sadat died on 9 July 2021, at the age of 87. Prior to her death she had reportedly been battling cancer. After being honored with a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, she was buried next to her husband at the
Unknown Soldier Memorial.
Awards and honors
Sadat was the recipient of several national and international awards for public service and humanitarian efforts for women and children. She also received more than 20 honorary doctorate degrees from national and international colleges and universities around the world. In 1993, she received the
Community of Christ International Peace Award
The Community of Christ International Peace Award was established to honor and bring attention to the work of peacemaking and peacemakers in the world. It has been bestowed on an individual each year since 1993 (except 1996 and 2015).
Overview
...
, whilst in 2001, she was the winner of the
Pearl S. Buck
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...
Award. After her death, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued a decree awarding her the Order of Perfection.
It was also announced that the Al-Firdous axis (Axis of Paradise) in Cairo will be named after her.
Positions
* Egypt's first lady from 1970 to 1981
* First woman chair of the People's Council of Munofeyya Provincial governorate
* Visiting professor at
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
,
University of South Carolina, and
Radford University
Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...
in the United States
* Professor of international studies at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
since 1993
References
External links
Biographyat the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
Biographyat Women's International Center
*
*
*
*
''
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
'', 26 March 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadat, Jihan
20th-century Egyptian women
21st-century Egyptian women
1933 births
2021 deaths
American University faculty and staff
Sadat family
Cairo University alumni
First Ladies of Egypt
Human rights activists from Cairo
Egyptian Muslims
Egyptian feminists
Egyptian women academics
Egyptian people of English descent
Radford University faculty
University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences people
University of South Carolina faculty