- Also spelled:
- Nawāl al-Saʿdāwī
- Born:
- October 27, 1931, Kafr Ṭaḥlah, Egypt
- Died:
- March 21, 2021, Cairo (aged 89)
- Founder:
- Arab Women’s Solidarity Association
- Notable Works:
- “Jannāt and Iblīs”
Nawal El Saadawi
-
Who was Nawal El Saadawi?
Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021) was an Egyptian public health physician, psychiatrist, author, and advocate for women’s rights. Often called the "Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world," El Saadawi dedicated her career to fighting for women's political and sexual rights through her writing and work.
El Saadawi faced significant opposition due to her views. She was fired from her position in the Egyptian ministry of health because of her book Women and Sex, which was condemned by religious and political authorities. In 1981, she was jailed for two months, during which she wrote Memoirs from the Women’s Prison using a smuggled cosmetic pencil.
In 1982, El Saadawi founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA). However, the government shut down AWSA's publication in 1991, followed by the organization itself. Despite facing accusations of apostasy and legal challenges, El Saadawi continued to write novels, short stories, and nonfiction works addressing the status of Arab women.
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What kinds of jobs did Nawal El Saadawi have?
Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian public health physician, psychiatrist, author, and advocate for women’s rights.
She worked as a physician at Cairo University and in the Egyptian ministry of health from 1955–65. In 1966, she became the director-general of the health education department within the ministry. In 1968, El Saadawi founded Health magazine, but Egyptian authorities shut it down several years later. In 1972, she was expelled from her position in the ministry of health because of her book Women and Sex, which was condemned by religious and political authorities.
In 1982 El Saadawi founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA), and later served as editor of the organization’s publication, Al-Nūn. In 1991, the government closed down Al-Nūn, and several months later, AWSA itself.
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What books did she write and what were they about?
Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian physician, psychiatrist, author, and feminist, dedicated her career to advocating for women's rights.
El Saadawi's works primarily address the status of Arab women. Woman at Point Zero (1975) tells the story of Firdaus, a woman sentenced to execution for murder, reflecting on her life of hardship and sexual exploitation. The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World (1977) gained international recognition for its discussion of female genital cutting and commentary on the patriarchy of religious fundamentalism. Memoirs from the Women’s Prison (1984) recounts her experiences and reflections during her imprisonment. In Jannāt and Iblīs (1992), El Saadawi explores the oppression of women through religion, set in a mental institution.
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Why is Nawal El Saadawi considered a feminist?
Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021) was an Egyptian physician, psychiatrist, author, and advocate for women's rights, often called "the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world." As a feminist, she dedicated her writings and career to fighting for women's political and sexual rights.
El Saadawi's work, including novels, short stories, and nonfiction, primarily addressed the status of Arab women. Her 1977 book, The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World, gained international recognition for discussing female genital cutting and critiquing the patriarchy in religious fundamentalism.
She founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA) in 1982, but it was later shut down by the government in 1991 due to her outspoken views. El Saadawi faced legal challenges from political and religious opponents, including accusations of apostasy.
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What challenges did she face for her beliefs and work?
Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian feminist, faced significant challenges for her beliefs and work. Her book Women and Sex led to her expulsion from her health ministry position in 1972. In 1981, she was jailed for two months and wrote Memoirs from the Women’s Prison during her imprisonment. The government shut down the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA), which she founded in 1982, and its publication, Al-Nūn, in 1991. El Saadawi also faced legal challenges and accusations of apostasy from religious and political opponents, including a 2002 attempt to forcibly divorce her and a 2008 case against her by Al-Azhar University.
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How did Nawal El Saadawi's work impact women's rights in Egypt and around the world?
Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian physician, psychiatrist, author, and feminist, significantly impacted women's rights in Egypt and globally. Often called the "Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world," she dedicated her career to advocating for women's political and sexual rights through her writings and activism.
El Saadawi's works, such as Women and Sex and The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World, addressed controversial issues like female genital cutting and the patriarchy in religious fundamentalism, bringing international attention to these topics. Despite facing opposition, including imprisonment and legal challenges, she founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA) in 1982 to further support Arab women's rights. Her novels and nonfiction works consistently highlighted the status of Arab women and the oppression they face.
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Nawal El Saadawi (born October 27, 1931, Kafr Ṭaḥlah, Egypt—died March 21, 2021, Cairo) was an Egyptian public health physician, psychiatrist, author, and advocate of women’s rights. Sometimes described as “the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world,” El Saadawi was a feminist whose writings and professional career were dedicated to political and sexual rights for women.
El Saadawi was educated at Cairo University (M.D., 1955), Columbia University in New York (M.P.H., 1966), and ʿAyn Shams University in Cairo (where she performed psychiatric research in 1972–74). In 1955–65 she worked as a physician at Cairo University and in the Egyptian ministry of health, and in 1966 she became the director-general of the health education department within the ministry. In 1968 she founded Health magazine, which was shut down by Egyptian authorities several years later, and in 1972 she was expelled from her professional position in the ministry of health because of her book Al-Marʾah wa al-jins (1969; Women and Sex), which was condemned by religious and political authorities. She conducted research at ʿAyn Shams on Egyptian women suffering from neurosis; its case studies inspired her novel Amraʾah ʿind nuqṭah al-ṣifr (1975; Woman at Point Zero). Her nonfiction book Al-Wajh al-ʿarī lī al-marʾah al-ʿarabiyyah (1977; The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World) established her work internationally for its discussion of female genital cutting and commentary on the patriarchy of religious fundamentalism. El Saadawi was jailed in September 1981, and during the two months of her imprisonment she wrote Mudhakkirāt fī sijn al-nisāʾ (1984; Memoirs from the Women’s Prison) on a roll of toilet paper using a smuggled cosmetic pencil.
In 1982 El Saadawi founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association (AWSA) and later served as editor of the organization’s publication, Al-Nūn. In 1991 the government closed down Al-Nūn and then, several months later, AWSA itself. Due to her outspoken views, El Saadawi continued to face frequent legal challenges from political and religious opponents, including accusations of apostasy. In 2002 a legal attempt was made by an Islamist lawyer to forcibly divorce her from her husband, and in May 2008 she won a case that had been brought against her by Al-Azhar University, the major centre of Islamic learning, that included charges of apostasy and heresy.
El Saadawi’s novels, short stories, and nonfiction deal chiefly with the status of Arab women, as in Mudhakkirāt ṭabībah (1960; Memoirs of a Woman Doctor), Al-Khayt wa al-jidār (1972; The Thread and the Wall), Al-Ḥubb fī zaman al-nafṭ (1993; Love in the Kingdom of Oil), and Al-Riwāyah (2004; The Novel). The oppression of women by men through religion is the underlying theme of El Saadawi’s novel set in a mental institution, Jannāt wa Iblīs (1992; Jannāt and Iblīs). The female protagonists are Jannāt, whose name is the plural of the Arabic word for paradise, and Iblīs, whose name refers to the Devil.