Aisha Rateb

Aisha Rateb (; 22 February 1928 – 4 May 2013) was an Egyptian lawyer, politician, and Egypt's first female ambassador. She also was a professor of international law at Cairo University.

Biography Rateb was born in Cairo to a middle-class, educated family.

Education When she attended college, she first studied literature at Cairo University, but transferred to law after only a week of studies. The prime minister of the time, Hussein Serry Pasha, said that having a woman judge was "against the traditions of society". Her lawsuit was the first of its kind in Egypt, and when she lost the case, it was admitted by the head of State Council, Abdel-Razek al-Sanhouri, that she lost only because of political and cultural reasons, not based on Egyptian or sharia law. The lawsuit and the written opinion of al-Sanhouri encouraged other women to follow suit, although none became judges until in 2003, when Tahani al-Gebali was appointed as a judge. In 2010, Egypt's prime minister ordered a review of a recent decision against allowing female judges. In July 2015, 26 women were finally sworn in as judges. During her time there she was able to pass reforms for women in the country. Rateb was able to do this even while fundamentalist sheikhs tried to ruin her reputation. Rateb went on to place restrictions on polygamy and ensure that divorce was only legal if it was witnessed by a judge. She also worked to help those in poverty, and passed a law to help employ the disabled. As an ambassador, she led Egypt on a "balanced position in a world of highly polarised international relations". She was ambassador to Denmark from 1979 to 1981 and to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1981 to 1984.

Rateb was critical of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak because she felt that his rule created a greater divide between the rich and poor.

Death Rateb died in Giza after a sudden cardiac arrest in 2013.