Saadawi, Nawal El

Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian writer and feminist. She was born and raised in a child-rich family in the small village of Kafr Tahla on the Nile. After school, she was given the opportunity to study and the University of Kairo, which was unusual for a young woman. She graduated as a doctor in 1955 and later took a diploma in psychiatry. She held a government post as Director of Public Health between 1964 and 1972 when she was dismissed on account of her radical publications and feminist activities. She was also blacklisted, banned from publishing her work and the health magazine she had been editing since 1968 was closed down. Saadawi continued to publish her work in Lebanon. She was sent to jail in 1981 and released after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat later that year. Nawal El Saadawi was also the president of the Arab Women Solidarity Association (ASWA) that she co-founded. The organization was banned in 1991, partly on account of their criticism of the USA’s and the UN’s war in Iraq. She was married three times and had two children. Between 1964 and 2010, she was married to the author Sherif Hetata, who has translated many of her books into English.