Lulwah Al-Qatami

Lulwa Al-Qatami, in Arabic: لولوة القطامي (born 1933/34 ) is an activist and educator, who was the first woman from Kuwait to attend university abroad. A former director of Kuwait University and UNESCO ambassador, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and in 2019 was awarded the Legion of Honour for her services to education and women's empowerment. She is a founder and former president of the Kuwait Women's Cultural & Social Society.

Biography In 1938, at the age of four years old, Al-Qatami joined kindergarten. After two years she moved to an English school to study for O-Levels and A-Levels, at the suggestion of her father who believed an English education would be more useful to her when she returned to Kuwait. She studied English and French at the University of Edinburgh.

In the early 1960s she led a tour for women students from Kuwait to Jerusalem. During the visit of the Algerian revolutionary Djamila Bouhired to the school, Al-Qatami encouraged students to donate their jewellery for the cause.

In 1963 Al-Qatami was a founding member of the Kuwait Women's Cultural & Social Society. Part of her work with the society was to ensure that there were enough classes and resources for young women who could not afford to attend private schools. However, during her time at the university she introduced a women's-only prayer room for students.

Awards and recognition

Nobel Peace Prize In 2005 Al-Qatami was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for her humanitarian work, in particular for women's social and educational rights, in Kuwait.

State Appreciation Award In 2009 she was awarded Kuwait's State Appreciation Award, with a prize of 10,000 dinars.