"My hope for the future is that the optimistic child within me will perhaps reawaken one day to a world where regional conflict and Western intervention are a thing of the past; where 'war' and 'power' will be outdated words; or where, at the very least, the word 'peace' will actually represent a realistic goal."
From "The Optimistic Child" by Nawal el Sa'adawi
Nawal el Sa'adawi *1931
Nawal el Sa'adawi was born in Kafr Tahla, a small village in Egypt, as the eldest of nine children. Her father, a government official, had campaigned against the rule of the King and the British in the revolution of 1919 and was consequently dismissed from his post and moved to a village. Being a progressive thinker he saw to it that Nawal, as a girl, learned self-respect and to speak her mind. Unfortunately, her parents died at an early age which left her with the burden of providing for a large family. Nevertheless, she graduated as a medical doctor in 1955 from Cairo University. While she worked as a doctor in her birthplace, she witnessed the oppressions and inequalities that local women were facing. Similar to her father's story: the time she supported one of her female patients against domestic violence she was ordered to move to Cairo where she became Director of Public Health.
In 1969, her book Al-Mar'a wa Al-Jins (Women and Sex) was published in which she openly names the various forms of aggression against women's bodies, including female circumcision. The text became, similar to Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex, 1949), a major text for feminism in the Arabic World. As a result Nawal lost her job at the Ministry of Health as well as Assistant General Secretary at the Medical Association in Egypt. Still, she continued with her work and did extensive research on women and neurosis and even became the United Nation's Advisor for the Women's Progamme in Africa and Middle East. Being banned from an official health journal she supported publication of the feminist magazine Confrontation. Her constant activism lead to her imprisonment under President Anwar al-Sadat. In her memoir Mudhakkirati fi sijn annisa (Memoirs from the Women's Prison, 1983) she describes her time in prison. Next to that, she continued to publish numerous essays and books that are partly available in English. In 1988, Nawal had to leave Egypt when Islamists were bullying her and making her life in Egypt unbearable. She turned to teaching at Duke's University and the University of Washington in Seattle in the US. Eight years later, she returned to Egypt, where she still lives and participates at various political and feminist activism. Click on the link and you will find a video with Nawal el Sa'adawi interviewed on the Egyptian Spring Revolution in 2011.
Additionally, in 2012 Nawal received the Stig Dagerman Prize, a Swedish based prize awarded to a person or organisation, that "supports the significance [...] of the 'free word' (freedom of speech), promotes empathy and intercultural understanding." (www.dagerman.us/society/annual-award). To find a complete list of all her publications, please check her website: www.nawalsaadawi.net.
In 1969, her book Al-Mar'a wa Al-Jins (Women and Sex) was published in which she openly names the various forms of aggression against women's bodies, including female circumcision. The text became, similar to Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex, 1949), a major text for feminism in the Arabic World. As a result Nawal lost her job at the Ministry of Health as well as Assistant General Secretary at the Medical Association in Egypt. Still, she continued with her work and did extensive research on women and neurosis and even became the United Nation's Advisor for the Women's Progamme in Africa and Middle East. Being banned from an official health journal she supported publication of the feminist magazine Confrontation. Her constant activism lead to her imprisonment under President Anwar al-Sadat. In her memoir Mudhakkirati fi sijn annisa (Memoirs from the Women's Prison, 1983) she describes her time in prison. Next to that, she continued to publish numerous essays and books that are partly available in English. In 1988, Nawal had to leave Egypt when Islamists were bullying her and making her life in Egypt unbearable. She turned to teaching at Duke's University and the University of Washington in Seattle in the US. Eight years later, she returned to Egypt, where she still lives and participates at various political and feminist activism. Click on the link and you will find a video with Nawal el Sa'adawi interviewed on the Egyptian Spring Revolution in 2011.
Additionally, in 2012 Nawal received the Stig Dagerman Prize, a Swedish based prize awarded to a person or organisation, that "supports the significance [...] of the 'free word' (freedom of speech), promotes empathy and intercultural understanding." (www.dagerman.us/society/annual-award). To find a complete list of all her publications, please check her website: www.nawalsaadawi.net.
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