Suhayr al-Qalamawi
Egyptian writer (1911-1997)
Sahier al-Qalamawi (Arabic: سهير القلماوي; July 20, 1911 – May 4, 1997) was a significant literary figure and politician from Egypt who shaped Arabic writing and culture through her writing, feminist activism, and advocacy. She was one of the first women to attend Cairo University and in 1941 became the first Egyptian woman to earn her Master of Arts Degree and PhD for her work in Arabic literature. After graduating, she was employed by the university as their first woman lecturer. Al-Qalamawi was also one of the first women to hold a number of chief positions including chairperson of the Arabic Department at Cairo University, president of the Egyptian Feminist Union, and president of the League of Arab Women University Graduates. Her writings include two volumes of short stories, ten critical studies, and many translations from world literature.Aḥādīth jaddatī (My Grandmother's Tales) was published in 1935.
Biography
Early life
Sahier al-Qalamawi was born on July 20, 1911, in Cairo, Egypt and lived there throughout her life. She was born to a family that took pride in educating its female members and therefore she was able to take advantage of her father's extensive library of works at an early age. Exposure to authors like Taha Hussein, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, and Ibn Iyas helped advance her literary talent and shape her voice as a writer.
As a child during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, al-Qalamawi grew up with influences from the Egyptian women at the time including legendary feminist Huda Sha'arawi and nationalist figure Safia Zaghoul. These women and other feminists at the time focused on moving feminist debate into the streets to create a more far reaching movement.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Suhayr al-Qalamawi” as egyptian writer (1911-1997). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as egyptian writer (1911-1997). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11005692. VIAF identifies the subject as 44271366. The Library of Congress control number is nr91043491. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1911, 1997, 1941 and 1935.
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This entry incorporates text from “Suhayr al-Qalamawi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.