HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nawal El Saadawi ( ar, نوال السعداوي, , 22 October 1931 – 21 March 2021) was an Egyptian
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
writer,
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
and
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
. She wrote many books on the subject of
women in Islam The experiences of Muslim women ( ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree ...
, paying particular attention to the practice of
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
in her society. She was described as "the
Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even ...
of the Arab World", and as "Egypt's most radical woman". She was founder and president of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association and co-founder of the Arab Association for Human Rights. She was awarded honorary degrees on three continents. In 2004, she won the North–South Prize from the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
. In 2005, she won the Inana International Prize in
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
,"PEN World Voices Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture by Nawal El Saadawi"
YouTube. 8 September 2009.
and in 2012, the
International Peace Bureau The International Peace Bureau (IPB) (french: Bureau international de la paix), founded in 1891, is one of the world's oldest international peace federations. The organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910 for acting "as a link be ...
awarded her the 2012 Seán MacBride Peace Prize.


Early life

The second-eldest of nine children, Saadawi was born in 1931 in the small village of Kafr Tahla, Egypt. Saadawi was "
circumcised Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topic ...
" (her
clitoris The clitoris ( or ) is a female sex organ present in mammals, ostriches and a limited number of other animals. In humans, the visible portion – the glans – is at the front junction of the labia minora (inner lips), above the op ...
cut off) at the age of six, though her father believed that both girls and boys should be educated. Her
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...
ian father was a government official in the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, who had campaigned against the British occupation of Egypt during the
Egyptian Revolution of 1919 The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 ( ''Thawra 1919'') was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of the ...
. As a result, he was exiled to a small town 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 ...
, and the government refrained from promoting him for 10 years. He was relatively progressive and taught his daughter self-respect and to speak her mind. He also encouraged her to study the Arabic language. However, when El Saadawi was 10 years old, her family tried to make her marry, but her mother supported her in resisting. Both her parents died at a young age, leaving Saadawi with the sole burden of providing for a large family. Her mother, Zaynab, was partially descendant from a wealthy Ottoman family; Saadawi described both her maternal grandfather, Shoukry, and her maternal grandmother as having Ottoman origin. Even as a child she objected to the male-dominated society she lived in, with sons valued far more highly than daughters, reacting angrily to her grandmother who said that "a boy is worth 15 girls at least... Girls are a blight". She described herself proudly as a dark-skinned Egyptian woman since she was young.


Career

Saadawi graduated as a medical doctor in 1955 from
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 ...
. That year, she married Ahmed Helmi, whom she met as a fellow student in medical school. They have a daughter, Mona Helmi. The marriage ended after two years. Through her medical practice, she observed women's physical and psychological problems and connected them with oppressive cultural practices, patriarchal oppression, class oppression and imperialist oppression.Feminism in a nationalist century
Her second husband was a colleague, Rashad Bey. While working as a doctor in her birthplace of Kafr Tahla, she observed the hardships and inequalities faced by rural women. After attempting to protect one of her patients from
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partn ...
, Saadawi was summoned back to Cairo. She eventually became the Director of the Ministry of
Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
and met her third husband, Sherif Hatata, while sharing an office in the Ministry of Health. Hatata, also a medical doctor and writer, had been a
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...
for 13 years. They married in 1964 and have a son. Saadawi and Hatata lived together for 43 years and divorced in 2010. Saadawi attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, earning a master's degree in public health in 1966. In 1972, she published ''Woman and Sex'' (), confronting and contextualising various aggressions perpetrated against women's bodies, including female circumcision. The book became a foundational text of
second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. ...
. As a consequence of the book and her political activities, Saadawi was dismissed from her position at the Ministry of Health. She also lost her positions as chief editor of a health journal, and as Assistant General Secretary in the Medical Association in Egypt. From 1973 to 1976, Saadawi worked on researching women and
neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...
in
Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was ...
's Faculty of Medicine. From 1979 to 1980, she was the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa (ECA) and the Middle East (ECWA).


Court Cases against her

In 2002 a legal attempt was made by Nabih el-Wahsh in an Egyptian Court to legally divorce el-Saadwai from her husband on account of hesba, a 9th century principal of shariah law, that allows for the conviction of Muslims who are seen to be harming Islam. The evidence used against her was a March interview in which el-Wahsh claims was proof she had abandoned Islam. The legal attempt was unsuccessful. In 2008, a similar attempt was made to strip el-Saadawi of her Egyptian nationality due to her radical opinions and writing, this attempt was also unsuccessful.


Imprisonment

Long viewed as controversial and dangerous by the Egyptian government, Saadawi helped publish a feminist magazine in 1981 called ''Confrontation.'' She was imprisoned in September by
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 E ...
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
. Saadawi stated once in an interview, "I was arrested because I believed Sadat. He said there is democracy and we have a multi-party system and you can criticize. So I started criticizing his policy and I landed in jail." Sadat claimed that the established government was a democracy for the people and that democracy as always was open for constructive criticism. According to Saadawi, Sadat imprisoned her because of her criticism of his purported democracy. Even in prison she still found a way to fight against the oppression of women. While in prison she formed the Arab Women's Solidarity Association. This was the first legal and independent feminist group in Egypt. In prison, she was denied pen and paper, however, that did not stop her from continuing to write. She used a "stubby black eyebrow pencil" and "a small roll of old and tattered toilet paper" to record her thoughts. She was released later that year, one month after the President's assassination. Of her experience she wrote: "Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies." In 1982, she founded the Arab Women's Solidarity Association. She described her organization as "historical, socialist, and feminist". Saadawi was one of the women held at Qanatir Women's Prison. Her incarceration formed the basis for her 1983 '' Memoirs from the Women's Prison'' ( ar, مذكرات في سجن النساء ). Her contact with a prisoner at Qanatir, nine years before she was imprisoned there, served as inspiration for an earlier work, a novel titled '' Woman at Point Zero'' ( ar, امرأة عند نقطة الصفر, 1975).


Further persecution, teaching in the US, and later activism

In 1993, when her life was threatened by
Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...
and political persecution, Saadawi was forced to flee Egypt. She accepted an offer to teach at
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
's Asian and African Languages Department in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
,Dr Dora Carpenter-Latiri
"The Reading Room: A review of ‘Memoirs of a woman doctor
''BMJ'' Blog, 11 November 2015.
as well as at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
. She later held positions at a number of prestigious colleges and universities including Cairo University,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
,
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
,
the Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
, Georgetown,
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
, and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
. In 1996, she moved back to Egypt. Saadawi continued her activism and considered running in the 2005 Egyptian presidential election, before stepping out because of stringent requirements for first-time candidates. She was among the protesters in
Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
in 2011. She called for the abolition of religious instruction in Egyptian schools. Saadawi was awarded the 2004 North–South Prize by the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
. In July 2016, she headlined the
Royal African Society The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. The RAS is a not-for-profit membership organisation based in London. In addition to producing its jour ...
's "Africa Writes" literary festival in London, where she spoke "On Being A Woman Writer" in conversation with
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Le ...
. At the
Göteborg Book Fair The Gothenburg Book Fair (also known as ''Göteborg Book Fair'', ''Bok & Bibliotek'', ''Bok- och biblioteksmässan'' or ''Bokmässan'') is an annual event held in Gothenburg, Sweden, since 1985. Overview It started primarily as a trade fair (for ...
that took place on 27 to 30 September 2018, Saadawi attended a seminar on development in Egypt and the Middle East after the Arab Spring and during her talk at the event stated that "colonial, capitalist, imperialist, racist" global powers, led by the United States, collaborated with the Egyptian government to end the 2011 Egyptian revolution. She added that she remembered seeing then-U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in Tahrir Square handing out dollar bills to the youth in order to encourage them to vote for the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...
in the upcoming elections. Nawal El Saadawi held the positions of Author for the Supreme Council for Arts and Social Sciences,
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 metr ...
; Director General of the Health Education Department, Ministry of Health, Cairo, Secretary General of the Medical Association, Cairo, Egypt, and medical doctor at the University Hospital and Ministry of Health. She was the founder of the Health Education Association and the Egyptian Women Writers' Association; she was Chief Editor of ''Health Magazine'' in Cairo, and Editor of ''Medical Association Magazine''.


Writing

Saadawi began writing early in her career. Her earliest writings include a selection of
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
entitled ''I Learned Love'' (1957) and her first novel, ''Memoirs of a Woman Doctor'' (1958). She subsequently wrote numerous novels and short stories and a personal memoir, ''Memoir from the Women's Prison'' (1986). Saadawi has been published in a number of anthologies, and her work has been translated from the original Arabic into more than 30 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian,
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
,
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Turkish,
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
, ''Women and Sex'', which evoked the antagonism of highly placed political and
theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
authorities. It also led to her dismissal at the Ministry of Health. Other works include ''The Hidden Face of Eve'', ''God Dies by the Nile'', ''The Circling Song'', ''Searching'', '' The Fall of the Imam'' (described as "a powerful and moving exposé of the horrors that women and children can be exposed to by the tenets of faith"), and '' Woman at Point Zero''. Many have criticised her work ''The Hidden Face of Eve'' on claims that she was writing for the "critical foreigner". The original title of the book, directly translated into english was "The Naked Face of the Arab Woman" and many chapters have been removed from the english edition of the book, when compared to the arabic original. She contributed the piece "When a woman rebels" to the 1984 anthology '' Sisterhood Is Global'', edited by
Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key radical feminist member of the American Women's Movement, and a leader in the ...
, and was a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''
New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...
'', edited by
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Le ...
, which included her essay "About Me in Africa—Politics and Religion in my Childhood". Saadawi's novel ''Zeina'' was published in Lebanon in 2009. The French translation was published under the pseudonym Nawal Zeinab el Sayed, using her mother's maiden name. Saadawi spoke fluent
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
in addition to her native
Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...
. As she wrote in Arabic, she saw the question of translation into English or French as "a big problem" linked to the fact that
"the colonial capitalist powers are mainly English- or French-speaking.... I am still ignored by big literary powers in the world, because I write in Arabic, and also because I am critical of the colonial, capitalist, racist, patriarchal mindset of the super-powers."
Her book ''Mufakirat Tifla fi Al-Khamisa wa Al-Thamaneen'' (A Notebook of an 85-year-old Girl), based on excerpts from her journal, was published in 2017.


Views


Opposition to genital mutilation

At a young age, Saadawi underwent the process of
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
. As an adult, she wrote about and criticized this practice. She responded to the death of a 12-year-old girl, Bedour Shaker, during a genital circumcision operation in 2007 by writing: "Bedour, did you have to die for some light to shine in the dark minds? Did you have to pay with your dear life a price ... for doctors and clerics to learn that the right religion doesn't cut children's organs?" As a doctor and human rights activist, Saadawi was also opposed to male circumcision. She believed that both male and female children deserve protection from genital mutilation.


Socialism and Feminism

Saadawi describes herself as a "socialist-feminist", believing the feminist struggle cannot be won under capitalism. This socialist belief has emerged from the injustices she witnessed in her own life. In ''The hidden Face of Eve'' she writes about how peoples sexual and emotional lives cannot be separated from their economic lives and their productivity, and therefore the personal status laws in Arab countries must be a priority for socialists. In an interview she stated that she is not a Marxist, having read his works which she found problems with.


Religion

In a 2014 interview, Saadawi said that "the root of the oppression of women lies in the global post-modern capitalist system, which is supported by religious fundamentalism". When hundreds of people were killed in what has been called a "stampede" during the 2015 pilgrimage (
Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...
) of Muslims to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
, Saudi Arabia, she said:
"They talk about changing the way the Hajj is administered, about making people travel in smaller groups. What they don’t say is that the crush happened because these people were fighting to stone the devil. Why do they need to stone the devil? Why do they need to kiss that black stone? But no one will say this. The media will not print it. What is it about, this reluctance to criticize religion? ... This refusal to criticize religion ... is not liberalism. This is censorship."
She said that elements of the Hajj, such as kissing the
Black Stone The Black Stone ( ar, ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, ', 'Black Stone') is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an ...
, had pre-Islamic
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
roots. Saadawi was involved in the academic exploration of
Arab identity Arab identity ( ar, الهوية العربية ) is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as an Arab and as relating to being Arab. Like other cultural identities, it relies on a common culture, a traditional lineage, the com ...
throughout her writing career. Saadawi described the Islamic veil as "a tool of oppression of women".


Objectification of women

She was also critical of the objectification of women and female bodies in patriarchal social structures common in Europe and the US, upsetting fellow feminists by speaking against make-up and revealing clothes.


United States

In a 2002 lecture at the University of California, Saadawi described the US-led war on Afghanistan as "a war to exploit the oil in the region", and US foreign policy and its support of Israel as "real terrorism". Saadawi held the opinion that Egyptians are forced into poverty by US aid.


Film

Saadawi is the subject of the film ''She Spoke the Unspeakable'', directed by Jill Nicholls, broadcast in February 2017 in the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
television series '' Imagine''.


Death

Saadawi died on 21 March 2021, aged 89, at a hospital 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 metr ...
. Her life was commemorated on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
's obituary programme ''
Last Word ''Last Word'' is an obituary BBC radio series broadcast weekly on Radio 4. Each week the lives of several famous people who have recently died are summarised with narration, and interviews with people who knew them. The programme is normally pr ...
''.


Selected awards and honours

*2004: North–South Prize from the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
*2005: Inana International Prize, Belgium *2007: Honorary Doctorate,
Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish government. listof all ...
, Belgium *2007: Honorary Doctorate, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium *2010: Honorary Doctorate,
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
, Mexico *2011:
Stig Dagerman Prize The Stig Dagerman Prize ( sv, Stig Dagermanpriset) is a Swedish award given since 1996 by the Stig Dagerman Society and Älvkarleby municipality.
*2012: Seán MacBride Peace Prize *2015: BBC's 100 Women *2020: ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
''s 100 Women of the Year (1981)


Selected works

Saadawi wrote prolifically, placing some of her works online. Novels and novellas *''Mudhakkirat tabiba'' (Cairo, 1958). ''Memoirs of a Woman Doctor'', trans. Catherine Cobham (Saqi Books, 1988) *''Al ghayib'' (Cairo, 1965). ''Searching'', trans. Shirley Eber (Zed Books, 1991) *''Imra'tani fi-Imra'a'' (Cairo, 1968). ''Two Women in One'', trans. Osman Nusairi and Jana Gough (Saqi Books, 1985) *''Maut ar-raǧul al-waḥīd ʿala ‚l-arḍ'' (1974). ''God Dies by the Nile'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Zed Books, 1985) *''Al-khait wa'ayn al-hayat'' (Cairo, 1976). ''The Well of Life and The Thread: Two Short Novels'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Lime Tree, 1993) *''Ughniyat al-atfal al da iriyah'' (Beirut: Dar al-Adab, 1977). ''The Circling Song'', trans. Marilyn Booth (Zed Books, 1989) *''Emra'a enda noktat el sifr'' (Beirut: Dar al-Adab, 1977). '' Woman at Point Zero'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Zed Books, 1983) *''Mawt Ma'ali al-Wazir Sabiqan'' (1980). ''Death of an Ex-Minister'', trans. Shirley Eber (Methuen, 1987) *''Suqūṭ al-imām'' (Cairo, 1987). '' The Fall of the Imam'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Methuen, 1988) *''Jann āt wa-Iblīs'' (Beirut, 1992). ''The Innocence of the Devil'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Methuen, 1994) *''Ḥubb fī zaman al-naf̣t'' (Cairo, 1993). ''Love in the Kingdom of Oil'', trans. Basil Hatim and Malcolm Williams (Saqi Books, 2001) *''Al-Riwayah'' (Cairo: Dar El Hilal, 2004). ''The Novel'', trans. Omnia Amin and Rick London (Interlink Books, 2009) *''Zeina'' (Beirut: Dar Al Saqi, 2009). ''Zeina'', trans.
Amira Nowaira Amira Nowaira ( ar, أميرة نويرة) is an Egyptians, Egyptian academic, translator, columnist and author. She gained her doctorate in English literature from Birmingham University. She has served as chair of the English department at Alexand ...
(Saqi Books, 2011) Short-story collections *''Ta'allamt al-hubb'' (Cairo, 1957). ''I Learned Love'' *''Lahzat sidq'' (Cairo, 1959). ''Moment of Truth'' *''Little Tenderness'' (Cairo, 1960) *''al-Khayt wa-l-jidar'' (1972). ''The Thread and the Wall'' *''Ain El Hayat'' (Beirut, 1976) *''Kānat hiya al-aḍʻaf'' She Was the Weaker"(1979). ''She Has No Place in Paradise'', trans. Shirley Eber (Methuen, 1987). Includes three additional stories: "She Has No Place in Paradise", "Two Women Friends", and "'Beautiful'". *''Adab Am Kellet Abad'' (Cairo, 2000) Plays *''Ithna 'ashar imra'a fi zinzana wahida'' (Cairo, 1984). ''Twelve Women in a Cell'' *''Isis'' (Cairo, 1985) *''God Resigns in the Summit Meeting'' (1996), published by Madbouli, and four other plays included in her ''Collected Works'' (45 books in Arabic), Cairo: Madbouli, 2007 Memoirs *''Mudhakkirat fi Sijn al-Nisa'' (Cairo, 1983). ''Memoirs from the Women's Prison'', trans. Marilyn Booth ( The Women’s Press, 1986) *''Rihlati hawla al-'alam'' (Cairo, 1986). ''My Travels Around the World'', trans. Shirley Eber (Methuen, 1991) *''Memoirs of a Child Called Soad'' (Cairo, 1990) *''Awraqi hayati'', first volume (Cairo, 1995). ''A Daughter of Isis'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Zed Books, 1999) *''Awraqi hayati'', second volume (Cairo, 1998). ''Walking Through Fire'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Zed Books, 2002) *''My Life, Part III'' (Cairo, 2001) Non-fiction *''Women and Sex'' (Cairo, 1969) *''Woman is the Origin'' (Cairo, 1971) *''Men and Sex'' (Cairo, 1973) *''The Naked Face of Arab Women'' (Cairo, 1974) *''Women and Neurosis'' (Cairo, 1975) *''Al-Wajh al-'ari lil-mar'a al-'arabiyy'' (1977). ''The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World'', trans. Sherif Hetata (Zed Press, 1980) *''On Women'' (Cairo, 1986) *''A New Battle in Arab Women Liberation'' (Cairo, 1992) *''Collection of Essays'' (Cairo, 1998) *''Collection of Essays'' (Cairo, 2001) *''Breaking Down Barriers'' (Cairo, 2004) Compilations in English *''North/South: The Nawal El Saadawi Reader'' (Zed Books, 1997) *''Off Limits: New Writings on Fear and Sin'' (Gingko Library, 2019, )


See also

*
List of Egyptian authors This is a list of Egyptian Writers. A Hussein Abdelfatah * Abaza family * Fekry Pasha Abaza (1896–1979) * Abdel Rahman El Abnudi (1938–2015) * Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi (1892–1955) * Yasser Abdel Hafez (1969– ) * Ibrahim Abdel Meguid (1 ...
* Feminism in Egypt *
Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms incl ...


References


Further reading

* * * * Thesis/dissertation.


External links


Nawal El Saadawi's website
at archive.org * Adele Newson-Horst
"Remembering Nawal El Saadawi"
''
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book revie ...
'', 24 March 2021. *
Ernest Emenyonu Chief Sir Ernest Emenyonu is a Nigerian academic, who is an African literature critic and professor. He was formerly head of the department of English and Literary Studies, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University ...

"NAWAL EL SAADAWI: A Life in Writing (Oct. 27, 1931 – March 21, 2021)"
Boydell and Brewer, 13 May 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saadawi, Nawal 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Egyptian women politicians 20th-century Egyptian politicians 20th-century Egyptian women writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century novelists 20th-century short story writers 21st-century Egyptian women writers 21st-century novelists Activists against female genital mutilation African feminists African writers BBC 100 Women Cairo University alumni Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty Egyptian dissidents Egyptian feminists Egyptian physicians Egyptian socialists Egyptian novelists Egyptian people of Turkish descent Egyptian psychiatrists Egyptian public health doctors Egyptian short story writers Egyptian women's rights activists Feminist writers Women's rights in Egypt Women public health doctors