Nawal el-Saadawi
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| Nawal el-Saadawi | |
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 Nawal el Saadawi
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| Born | October 27, 1931 Kafr Tahla, Egypt |
| Occupation | Physician, author, feminist |
| Spouse | Sherif Hatata |
Nawal el-Saadawi (Arabic: نوال السعداوي) (born October 27, 1931) is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist and physician. She was born in Kafr Tahla village on the banks of the Nile. She has written many books on the subject of the plight of women in Abrahamic religions.
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[edit] Early life
Saadawi was born in a small village called Kafr Tahla to a large family with 8 other children. Her father was a government official in the Ministry of Education who had fought against the British in the revolution of 1919. He was relatively progressive and taught her self-respect and to speak her mind.
In the early 1990s, Saadawi moved from Egypt to North Carolina. She has since moved back to Egypt. She has continued her activism and considered running in the 2005 Egyptian presidential election, before stepping out due to steep requirements for first time candidates.
[edit] Writing
In 1972 she published her first work of non-fiction, Women and Sex, which evoked the antagonism of highly placed political and theological authorities and led to a 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 and Woman at Point Zero.
Her earliest writings include a selection of short stories entitled I Learned Love (1957) and the novel Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1958). She has written a number of fictional novels and short stories, and has been published in a number of anthologies, and translated into over 20 languages.
[edit] Medical career
She studied medicine at the Cairo University, graduating in 1955. 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 the patient's abusive husband, Saadawi was summoned back to Cairo. She eventually became the Director of Public Health and met her third husband, Sherif Hetata, while sharing an office in the Ministry of Health. Hetata had been imprisoned for 13 years for his political views. Saadawi was dismissed from her position at the Ministry of Health as a consequence of her political activities. Similar pressures cost her a later position as chief editor of a health journal and as Assistant General Secretary in the Medical Association in Egypt. From 1973 to 1976 she worked on researching women and neurosis in the Ain Shams University's Faculty of Medicine. From 1979 to 1980 she was the United Nations Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa (ECA) and Middle East (ECWA).
[edit] Imprisonment
Long viewed as controversial and dangerous, Saadawi was imprisoned in September 1981, along with many other objectors to the Jerusalem Peace Treaty, by President Anwar al-Sadat. She was released one month after his 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."
