Shahida El-Baz

Shahida El-Baz (; (born 2 November 1938 - 21 October 2021) was an Egyptian feminist who wrote many books on Arab women's issues. El-Baz was the General Director of the Arab and African Research Center in Cairo, Egypt. She was a member of the General Assembly establishing the Arab Society for Sociology, She had her Ph.D. from the Department of Economics and Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. She carried out her Ph.D. studies on the Development of Capitalism in the Gezira Scheme in Sudan. Civil Society, Gender Issues, Poverty, Children in Difficult Circumstances, and Globalization policies. El-Baz authored and researched various topics related to women's group formation in Egypt, democratisation processes, and the impact of economic sanctions and structural adjustment development programs on the socioeconomic status of Egyptians. Mafeje married Shahida El-Baz in 1977. They had a daughter, Dana. Mafeje had to convert to Islam before they were wedded because El-Baz was Muslim.

El-Baz remembered that Mafeje was reading in his study on 6 October 1981, when Sadat was assassinated; while watching television news, El-Baz shouted, "Archie, Sadat has been shot!" After Mafeje asked "Is he dead?" and heard a reply in the affirmative, he opened a bottle of champagne to make a toast.