Khadījah Jahamī

Khadījah Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jahamī (; 15 March 1921 – 11 August 1996), also knowns as Bint al-Watan, was a Libyan writer and radio broadcaster, who is considered one of the pioneers of advocating for women's rights since the Italian colonial period in Libya.

Early life Al-Jahamī was born in Benghazi on 15 March 1921. Her father was the poet Muhammad Abdullah al-Jahmi, who worked as a typesetter for the newspaper Barid Barqa that the Italian colonial government published. Her father encouraged her to attend school from the age of seven, where she was taught in Italian, as well as Arabic. As a young child, she wrote to Benito Mussolini criticising Italian colonialism in Libya.

During the Second World War, Al-Jahamī volunteered as a nurse. In 1947 she joined the Princess School in Benghazi, where she studied until August 1952. She became the second female Libyan broadcaster, after Hamida Abu Amer. She founded the first children's magazine In Libya, Al-Amal, and was appointed its editor on 1 October 1974. She became its president in 1972. In 1977 the organization was re-named as the Jamahiriya Women's Federation. Part of her broadcasting appeal was due to her "soft eastern Libyan accent", as well as the confidential and welcoming tone she used to appeal to all sections of society. In the same year Asmāʼ Muṣṭafá Usṭá's volume I am Khadija El-Jahmi (أنا خديجة الجهمي) also came out.