Mariam Abou Zahab (February 1952—November 2017) was a French

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

, sociologist, and scholar of Islamic studies. She was an expert in the Politics of the Middle East, particularly

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. She was also a humanitarian aid worker in Afghanistan.

Early life and education

Zahab was born Marie-Pierre Walquemanne in

Hon-Hergies Hon-Hergies () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History The village of Hon existed in the 9th century and then became famous for the adulterous loves of Lothaire II, king of Lorraine, nephew of Charles-le-Chauve. In 862, ...

in February of 1952. She attended secondary school in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, and completed her university studies at the

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

and the

Instituts d'études politiques Instituts d'études politiques (), or IEPs, are ten publicly owned institutions of higher learning in France. They are located in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse, and since 2014 Saint-Ge ...

in Paris, graduating in 1972.

Career

Abou Zahab was a professor at the Instituts d'études politiques in Paris, and the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales. She was also a researcher at the Centre de recherches internationales ( Fr), and worked with the Cahiers d'études sur la Méditerranée orientale et le Monde Turco-Iranien on subjects relating to contemporary Afghanistan and Pakistan. She spoke Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Pashto, and Punjabi, and in addition to scholarly works she published works detailing her travels through Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and India. These included time spent in Bangladesh during

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

's involvement with the

liberation movement A liberation movement is an organization or political movement leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperi ...

there, and she was 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 ...

during the 1975 advent of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, around which time she converted to

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

. Abou Zahab spent several years in Pakistan and Palestine as a militant, first taking the side of Bengali nationalists in East Pakistan, and then aligned with

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

in the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

. This latter activity drew the suspicion of French intelligence services. Abou Zahab also worked with the non-governmental organization Afrane ( Fr), and was involved in several aid missions during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. All of Abou Zahab's scholarly works were published in the last 15 years of her life. She died in November 2017.

Selected works

*''Réseaux islamiques : la Connexion afghano-pakistanaise'', with Olivier Roy (2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahab, Mariam Abou French political scientists 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers Women political scientists 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers French women non-fiction writers French expatriates in Pakistan