Zaynab Fawwaz

Zaynab Fawwaz (1860–1914) was a Lebanese women's rights activist, novelist, playwright, poet and historian of famous women. Her novel "حسن العواقب/Ḥusn al-Awaqib", (The Happy Ending, 1899) is considered the first novel in Arabic written by a woman. Her play, "الهوى والوفاء/Al-Haawa wa al-Wafa" (Passion and Fidelity, 1893), is the first play written in Arabic by a woman.

Early life

Little is known of Zaynab's early life and her exact date of birth is uncertain. In Joseph Zeidan's account, Zaynab Fawwāz represents a unique phenomenon among pioneering women writers. She was from a poor illiterate Shiite family in the village of Tabnīn in southern Lebanon. As a girl she served as a maid at the palace of ʿAlī Bey al-Asʿad al-Ṣaghīr. Her work at the palace brought her into contact with Fāṭimah al-Khalīl, the prince's wife, who was a poet. Fāṭimah al-Khalīl recognized her intellectual potential and began to tutor her. Zaynab married Khalil Bey Al-Assaad, a falconer, but the marriage did not succeed. She separated from him and moved to Damascus with her father. There she married a Damascene writer, Adib Nazmi, but divorced him, too.

After moving to Syria, she married an officer in the Egyptian military and relocated to Egypt. She lived in Alexandria and embarked on a literary career, writing letters that were published in the main newspapers of Egypt, making a name for herself in the cultural milieu. During this time, she also wrote two novels. In 1894, she published a biographical dictionary called "الدر المنثور في طبقات ربات الخدور/al-Durr al-manthur fi tabaqat rabbat al-khudur" or The Book of Scattered Pearls Regarding Categories of Women.

Unusual at that time, Zaynab along with Aisha Taymur were the only forerunners who had the courage to express in writing. Fawwaz issued her works and articles in many papers such as Al-Moayyed, Al-Nile, Al-Ahali, Al-Liwaa, Al-Ustaz, Al-Fata, and others. Her work was mainly focused on encouraging the freedom of education, especially women's education.

Although she married more than once, she never had any children.

According to the Critical Reference Guide of Arab Women Writers, Fawwaz was "the first woman's voice calling for the women's awakening and defending their rights, humanity, and equality with men."

Besides her journalism, Zaynab was particularly noted for her "الدر المنثور في طبقات ربات الخدور", (The Book of Scattered Pearls Regarding Categories of Women, 1894–95), a large-folio, 552-page biographical dictionary of some 456 women and their achievements. It is important to note that Zaynab did not write anything about herself in this work, but rather she celebrated and supported other women's achievements.

Zaynab also wrote two novels and a play, putting her at the forefront of the emergence of the novel in Arabic.

Her first novel was "حسن العواقب", (The Happy Ending, 1899) and is considered to be the first novel written by an Arab female. In this novel, Zaynab dared to criticize the society in which she lived. This act was considered very courageous and heroic. In her writing, Zaynab showed that she supports women's free will and decision-making. She also glorified women's self-esteem and confidence. It is believed that Zaynab's intention behind this novel is to praise women's strength and perseverance as well as their rights in education. She also showed that marriage should be based on love and understanding.

Her play, "الهوى والوفاء" (Love and Faithfulness, 1893), was the first play written in Arabic by a woman.

Zaynab has many other published books including:

"الرسائل الزينبية", in which she argued about women's rights in education and in the work field. "مدراك الكمال في تراجم الرجال" "الجوهر النضيد في مآثر الملك الحميد" "الملك قوروش" al-Malik Qurush (King Cyrus), published in 1905

Philosophical and political views Zaynab Fawwaz was a women's rights activist. Her tendency to liberate women was visible in many situations. She started with encouraging the citizens of her country to participate in all meetings, exhibitions, and associations related to women's rights to proper education, and specifically the conference of the International Women's Union in Santiago in 1893. During that conference, the members voted on a decision that prevented women from obtaining the appropriate education, a decision that was stemmed from the idea that a woman's place is at home and her activity should be limited to family. This drove Zaynab to criticize and attack the organizers as well as the participants of that conference for letting this decision pass.

She stressed the importance and the necessity of granting women their rights and widening their scope of activity in the community, particularly in the field of science. Zaynab also responded to the article written by the representative of the Syrian women in that conference, Mrs. Hana Kourani. Kourani's article was published in the newspaper "Lebanon" in which she called for restricting women's work to households and leaving all the other social/political activities for men. Zaynab's critique was influenced by women's movements and riots (in London back in the days of Gladstone) in which they demanded that women must be included in all aspects of life such as politics and decision making. This was the main principle that Zaynab supported. She argued that no reason prevented a woman from engaging in all works and in political issues or any other field. Zaynab called for novel principles and for new laws that guarantee the regulation of women's lives and their rights in education and work. Therefore, Zaynab's morals and intellectual values were based on raising her voice to always defend women's rights.

Fawwaz was constantly preoccupied with public issues and debated to defend women's rights. She demanded to preserve women's rights in participating in political and intellectual issues.

At a certain period, the country of Algeria entered a state of famine and economic crisis. All these factors triggered Fawwaz to call the Egyptians to help the Algerian citizens.