Zakeya Shafei
University Professor and Engineer
Dr. Zakeya Shafei is a university professor, an engineer, and the first Egyptian woman architect. She was also the first woman to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering, at Alexandria University. After earning her PhD in hospital architecture from the University of London, Zakeya worked as a Professor of Engineering at Cairo University, and served as the Head of the Architecture Department in 1994. She designed several buildings for different universities and hospitals, and became an international expert in hospital architecture. She also served as the President of the Society of Egyptian Architects, and as a member of the Architecture Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture, as well as a board member of the International Union of Architects. In 2017, Zakeya received the Gold Medal from the Society of Egyptian Architects in recognition for her outstanding architectural work.
Zakeya is the daughter of Hassan Shafei, the pioneer architect who studied in France, and whom Zakeya described as broad-minded, enlightened, and a strong believer in the importance of women’s education. Zakeya attended La Rose de Lisieux French School in Dokki for one year, then her father transferred to Qasr al-Dobara School, then to al-Orman School, because he wanted her to study in public schools, and to receive an Egyptian education. When an Engineering Department was established at Alexandria University, her father was appointed as a teaching staff member there, and the family moved to Alexandria, where Zakeya attended Mustafa Kamel Pasha Primary School, then Princess Faiza Secondary School. Zakeya recounted that none of the girls’ secondary schools in Alexandria had a mathematics department, and that she had to study mathematics on her own at home in order to qualify for the science division. She ranked the 31st nationwide in the General Culture Certificate Exam, and the 19th nationwide at high-school Tawgiheya exam.
Zakeya was the first girl to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering, at Alexandria University, and earned her bachelor’s degree, in 1957. However, she was not the first woman to graduate from this Faculty because during her college years, the Department of Industrial Chemistry, which was initially associated with the Faculty of Sciences, became affiliated to the Faculty of Engineering, and the girls studying at that Department were the first class of women to graduate from the Faculty of Engineering, at Alexandria University. Although Zakeya was the only girl in her class with 23 male students, she built a good friendship with them, based on mutual respect. She also maintained her friendships with her schoolmates. Zakeya recalled that her father taught her the architecture course at college for four years, during which she completely refused any help from him in any way.
Zakeya was against the idea of getting married after high school, because she was determined to complete her university education first, but while studying at the university, she met Dr. Sharif Abd al-Fattah through one of her friends. He was an army doctor at the Egyptian military. As their relationship developed from friendship to love, Zakeya recounted that the crucial question on which she based her decision to accept his marriage proposal was whether or not he would support her work and career after graduation. They got engaged when Zakeya was in her third year of college, and got married immediately after her graduation, then moved together to Cairo.
Zakeya was assigned by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to work at the Building Research Institute in Dokki, but requested to be transferred to the government’s engineering department, since it was closer to her residence, and because a job there would allow her to work in architectural designing. Zakeya worked at the division responsible for designing Egypt’s public universities, and through her job, she took part in designing and planning Ain Shams University, Assiut University, and some buildings at Alexandria University. After three years, Zakeya and her husband decided to pursue their higher studies abroad. Whereas Zakeya was offered a scholarship to the USA, her husband’s scholarship was in England. As a result, she decided to change her research topic to qualify for a scholarship in England so that she could be with her husband and their two-year-old daughter. Zakeya studied in England for three and a half years, during which she earned her PhD in Hospital Architecture and Design in 1964, and a higher diploma in planning.
Upon her return, Zakeya resumed her post at the government’s engineering department, which became the Arab Engineering Office. She then applied for a job as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, and got accepted. Zakeya recounted that the first class she taught was to the third-year students, and although she was scared at first, what helped get her through the fear was the encouragement she saw in the eyes of her female students, sitting in the front row. Among these young women was Dr. Nismat, who later became the Head of the Department, which was something Zakeya spoke about with great pride. In addition to her teaching post, Zakeya worked as an engineer at Dr. Youssef Shafiq’s Firm for a year and a half. Dr. Youssef Shafiq was the Head of the Architecture Department at the Faculty of Engineering. To Zakeya, he was a role model, both for his work and his mindset, and he had a great impact on her understanding and practice of architecture.
Zakeya decided to establish her own firm, in order to familiarize herself with the practical reality of the field, including the economic and operational aspects, to complement her theoretical knowledge. With a group of staff members at the Faculty of Engineering, Zakeya cofounded a firm with its headquarters at the University, and worked on designing many of the buildings at Cairo University, in addition to designing the Faculty of Science at Mansoura University, and the Oncology Institute. Zakeya also cofounded the Shafei-Sharif Firm in collaboration with her son, and a family relative, Ahmed Sharif. Her son later withdrew from the partnership to establish his own firm.
In addition to her academic studies, Zakeya loved literature, particularly detective novels, and read many novels by Ihsan Abd al-Quddous and Yusuf al-Sibaei. She also spoke about her intense love for Naguib Mahfouz’s work, whose novels she began reading after her return from England. Zakeya recalled that she saw in Naguib Mahfouz a unique literary figure who did not receive sufficient recognition, and that she was overjoyed when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Zakeya also talked about the difference in education between the past and the present, and explained that the increase in the number of students in the present had a negative impact on the relationship between the students and their professors, because of the limited attention given to each student. Zakeya saw that the new generations did not have enough patience to learn, unlike her generation which believed that the struggle for knowledge was part of the joy of learning.