Nawal a-Sadawi, a prolific writer, activist for democracy and women's rights and critic of the Egyptian regime, has passed away • She will be remembered for her opposition to the word women and polygamy
Nawal a-Sadawi // Photo: AFP
The groundbreaking Egyptian author, Nawal a-Sadawi, died today (Sunday) at the age of 89, leaving behind 55 books and a life of struggle for women's rights, democracy and against religious coercion.
The feminist writer visited the library the custom of female circumcision still common in Egypt, polygamy and the obligation to wear a veil.
A-Saadawi, a doctor by training, dared to criticize the religious establishment and go against it, which led to many threats on her life.
"The inability to criticize religion is not liberal, it is censorship under the guise of tolerance," a-Saadwi once said.
Al-Saadwi died at a Cairo hospital after years of battling a serious illness.
She was born in 1931 in a small village on the Nile door and underwent female circumcision at the age of six.
She studied medicine at Cairo University and Columbia University in New York State.
The book she published in 1972 "On Women and Sex" caused a stir in conservative Egypt and after harsh criticism from the political and religious establishment, a-Saadawi lost her job.
She was imprisoned for two months in 1981, along with other intellectuals and liberals.
A-Saadawi, defiantly, wrote her memoirs from prison on a roll of toilet paper.
A-Saadwi appeared on the list of assassinations of terrorist organizations in Egypt alongside prominent figures such as Naguib Mahfouz, who was stabbed in 1994 in an assassination attempt on his life.