Doria Shafik, Born 1908
Campaigner for Women’s Rights in egypt
Doria Shafik (1908 - 1975) was an Egyptian educator, journalist, and reformer who campaigned for women’s rights in Egypt and founded in 1948 the Egyptian women’s organization Bint al-Nīl (“Daughter of the Nile”). Shafīq was born in Lower Egypt and received a Western-style education in French and Italian schools. She was a great admirer of Egyptian feminist pioneer Hudā Shaʿrāwī, who helped Shafīq continue her education in France. She obtained a doctorate from the Sorbonne — the first Egyptian woman to do so — and returned to Egypt in 1940. In her homeland she taught for several years and founded the magazine Bint al-Nīl, an organ devoted to promoting women’s issues. Three years later she founded the organization of the same name. The group engaged in a variety of social and political activities. In 1951 members interrupted a session of the Egyptian parliament and demonstrated in Cairo. In 1954 Shafīk and some of her followers went on a week’s hunger strike to protest for women’s rights. These tactics were influential in Egypt’s decision to grant women the franchise in 1956. Later demonstrations, challenging the autocratic rule of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, were not successful, and she was placed by Nasser under house arrest. Driven from public life, she grew despondent and took her own life.