Nawal Saadawi the founder and head of the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association and co-founder of the Arab Association for Human Rights died at 89 in Cairo on Sunday, officials in Egypt said.
She was a renowned Egyptian feminist, psychiatrist and novelist, whose writings stirred debate for many years.
Nawal was inducted within the Time Magazines 100 Women of the Year list in 2020 As a fierce advocate of women’s rights in Egypt and the Arab world, her writings focused mainly on feminism, violence against women and religious extremism.
She was a vocal opponent of female genital mutilation in Egypt and worldwide. Saadawi studied medicine in Cairo University and the Columbia University in new york. She worked as a psychiatrist and university lecturer and penned dozens of books.
Egypt’s Culture Minister Inas Abdel-Dayem mourned Saadawi’s passing, saying her writings had created Path-breaking intellectual movement