Layla Fakhro

Layla Abdulla Yousif Fakhro was a pioneering Bahraini woman who was an educator and a freedom fighter. She has taken part in the Dhofar Rebellion in Oman in the 1960s and has established the first [School of the Revolution] through which much of the current top echelon of Omani government and enterprise have passed through, providing the basis of a modern educational system in Oman. These enterprises have made Ms. Fakhro a legend throughout the Arab world in general, and the Gulf in particular.

Layla Fakhro was born in 1945 in Muharraq island in Bahrain. She died after a long illness on 21 September 2006. She is survived by her two daughters, Munira and Aysha, and husband Ubaiydli Al-Ubaiydli.

Bio

• Held a masters degree in statistics from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon
• Held a license in statistics from Al-Muntassiria University in Baghdad, Iraq
• got involved in political activities in Bahrain in 1964
• was a leader in student movements and activist while studying in Beirut in the 1960s
• was the head of the cultural committee from 1967 - 1968 while at university in Beirut
• joined the armed struggle against the British in Dhofar, the Sultanate of Oman
• established the Awal Women's Society in Bahrain in 1968
• established the Revolutionary Schools in the Sultanate of Oman
• established the modern educational system in the Sultanate of Oman
• established the Delmon Publishing House in Cyprus while in exile
• exiled from Bahrain for more than 25 years due to her political activities
• established Alnadeem Information Technology company with her husband and other partners on her return to Bahrain in 1995