Atheists & Agnostics

Egyptian lawyer and liberal. I used to read his weekly column in the Egyptian Gazette and wonder how he stayed out of jail.

I distinctly remember one of his columns, about modern Egyptian women: "Your grandmothers had more freedom than you do today. They fought in the 1919 Revolution."

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarek_Heggy

One woman in that Revolution was Sofiya Zaghloul, wife of the Egyptian nationalist Sa'ad Zaghloul.

A British friend in Alexandria told this story. Once he was walking in downtown Alexandria with an Egyptian guy. The British guy noticed they were walking up Sofiya Zaghloul Street:
British Guy: "So who was Sofiya Zaghloul, then?"
Egyptian Guy: "A hero of our 1919 Revolution. And the wife of Sa'ad Zaghloul."
British Guy: "So what did old Sofiya do in the Revolution? Marry the right guy?"
Egyptian Guy: "She shot 2 British officers."

Whether that story is true or not, Sofiya Zaghloul was an impressive woman. She fought to modernize Egypt, especially in the area of education for girls and women. She was one of the first women to appear in public unveiled. And she was so popular she eventually earned the fairly awesome title, "Mother of the Egyptians."