Dr. Sahir al-Qalamawi

Dr. Sahir al-Qalamawi

(b. July 20, 1911; d. May 4, 1997)

At a time when women were still hiding behind the veil, Sahir Al Qalamawi stood as one of several pioneer young women who broke out of their chains and ventured into the world.

She was the first young woman to join the Egyptian (now Cairo) university in 1929 and the only female student among 14 male-colleagues in the Faculty of Arts' Arabic Language Department. She was also the first Egyptian young woman to obtain a Ph.D. in literature.

Given her genius, Dr. Taha Hussein, the then Dean of the Faculty of Arts, took her under his wings. He made her assistant-editor of the University Magazine in 1932, in which he served as Editor-in-Chief.

Career

1933: was the first young girl to obtain a BA degree in Arabic Language; worked in a number of Egyptian magazines: "Qawkab al-Shark" (The Star of the Orient), al-Risalah (The Message), and al-Wadi (The Valley).

1934: worked as a radio broadcaster in the Egyptian Radio Service,.

1936: was the first young woman to lecture in the Faculty of Arts.

1937: obtained her MA degree on Adab Al Khwarij (Dissidents Literature).

1937: was the first young woman to go on a scholarly mission to France to prepare for her Ph.D.

1941: was the first young woman to have a Ph.D. from the Egyptian University on "Folk Literature", based on an analysis and critical study of "Alf Leila wa Leila" "The Thousand and one Nights".

1958: became head of the Arabic Language Department (Faculty of Arts).

1959: became head of the Women University Graduates' Union; and Professor of Folk Literature (Cairo University).

1960: was President of the International Conference on Woman, held in Addis Ababa.

1961: was President of the first Conference on Folkloric Arts.

1962: established a committee to support the Palestinian university students.

1967: became Head of the Egyptian General Authority for Cinema, Theater, and Music.

1968: became Head of the Children's Culture Committee.

1971: became Editor-in-Chief of the Arts Magazine.

Of al-Qalamawi's most prominent publications:

• The Talks of My Grandmother, 1935
• Thousand and One Nights, 1943
• The Dissidents' Literature, 1945
• On Literary Criticism, 1955;
• Dancing Demons, 1964; and
• Sunset, 1965.

She translated Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew; and Plato's Ion among others.