Few definitions of life strike with such force and clarity as this line from Egyptian author and activist Nawal El Saadawi. But who was this woman whose words continue to echo across generations?
Nawal El Saadawi was more than a writer; she was a revolutionary spirit who refused to bow to the layers of oppression imposed on women by gender, class, religion, and politics.
Throughout her life, she
confronted systems that sought to silence her, and she paid the price:
censorship, dismissal, imprisonment, and exile. Yet she never stopped writing,
never stopped resisting.
Her journey as a public health physician, psychiatrist, and
feminist thinker began with her groundbreaking nonfiction work Women and Sex
(1969). The book challenged deeply rooted cultural and religious norms, leading
to her dismissal from the Ministry of Health in 1972. However, this was only
the beginning of her battle.
In 1981, under President Anwar Sadat, El Saadawi was
imprisoned for her outspoken criticism of the government. Behind bars, she
wrote Memoirs from the Women’s Prison on a roll of toilet paper using a
smuggled cosmetic pencil, an act that symbolized her unbreakable will.
Born on October 27, 1931, in Kafr Ṭaḥlah,
Egypt, El Saadawi was often described as “the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab
world.” She earned her medical degree from Cairo University in 1955, later
completing public health studies at Columbia University.
Her medical career spanned psychiatry, public health, and
education, including serving as director-general of health education in Egypt.
In 1968, she founded Health magazine, which was later shut
down by authorities. In 1982, she established the Arab Women’s Solidarity
Association (AWSA), only for it to be dissolved by the government in 1991.
Her life was a continuous confrontation with political and
religious institutions that feared her influence. She faced accusations of
apostasy, legal attempts to forcibly divorce her from her husband, and repeated
efforts to silence her voice.
Despite these attacks, El Saadawi produced a vast body of work, novels, short stories, and nonfiction, centered on the lived experiences of Arab women.
Her notable works include Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1960), The
Hidden Face of Eve (1977), Love in the Kingdom of Oil (1993), and The Novel
(2004). Her 1992 novel Jannāt and Iblīs, set in a mental institution, explores
the oppression of women through religious and patriarchal structures, using
symbolism drawn from paradise and the devil.
Nawal El Saadawi lived a life of defiance, courage, and
relentless truth-telling. She was harder than life itself, and because of that,
she lived fully, fiercely, and without apology.