Dr. Dorreya Ali Zakie is a professor, scientist, and an Egyptian pioneer in the study of amino acids. In the interview, Dorreya shared her educational journey, being one of the first girls in her family to receive formal education, and spoke about the wide range of cultural activities in which she participated.
Dorreya was born in Shubra district, in Cairo, to a father who worked as an employee at the Railways Authority, and a mother whom Dorreya described as a homemaker with a strong character. Dorreya’s parents took great care of her education, and provided at home an enabling environment for their children to excel in their studies. Her parents enrolled her in the kindergarten affiliated with the English Missionary School at al-Faggala district because they were keen on offering their daughter a good quality education, and the opportunity to learn foreign languages. Dorreya was the first girl in her family to attend a formal school, spending two years in kindergarten before attending primary school for four years to obtain the equivalent of an elementary school certificate. She recalled that all her teachers were British, because at that time, Egyptian teachers rarely mastered the English language.
Egypt’s Prime Minister at that time, Mahmoud Fahmi al-Noqrashi Pasha, decreed that all foreign missionary schools must teach the Islamic Religion as part of their school curriculum or else be subject for closure. As a result, the English Missionary School was shut down upon the Prime Minister’s decree, and Dorreya had to transfer to al-Faggala Primary School, which was an Egyptian school that offered all the school subjects in the Arabic language. Since Dorreya never learned the Arabic language at the English Missionary School, she failed the admission exam into al-Faggala Primary School for her poor command of the Arabic language, and had to repeat the fourth year of the primary education. At first, Dorreya found it difficult to study History, Geography, and National Education subjects in Arabic, but with the help of her father, she overcame the challenge, and passed the primary exam, ranking at the 75th place nationwide, which, as Dorreya stated, was an amazing surprise.
Dorreya then attended Princess Fawzia Secondary School at al-Sabtieh, along with her classmates Camelia al-Shanawani, who became a TV Presenter, Bahira Mukhtar Hussein, who later became a journalist, and Nawal El-Degwy, who became one of Egypt’s women pioneers of private education. The School operated on a full-day basis, and provided lunch, all for a small fee. Dorreya recalled her Arabic language teacher “Abla Nadia,” one of the teachers who had a great impact on her. When they met by chance over 20 years later, Dorreya was deeply moved when Abla Nadia remembered her, and called her by name, saying, “How are you, Dorreya?”
Dorreya excelled at school during her secondary education, and was always the top of her class. She was exceptionally good at the English language, and with the help of one of her teachers, became the school’s correspondent for the Egyptian Gazette Newspaper. She always kept the letters and correspondences with the Newspaper at her house. She published a summary of Oliver Twist, and adapted the novel for a school play. After studying for five years, Dorreya obtained her General Culture Certificate and her high-school diploma in 1954, and prepared for university admission through the National Office for University Coordination, which began its operations at the same time Dorreya was applying for college. Through that Office, students set down the faculties they desired to join, and arranged them in the order of their preferences, then students were distributed among the faculties they listed according to their high school score. Dorreya listed in order, first, the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, then the Faculty of Medicine at Ain Shams University, then the Faculty of Sciences at Cairo University. She was admitted into the Faculty of Sciences, and chose to join the Biology Department, which was divided into three branches: botany, zoology, and chemistry.
Dorreya specialized in botany, and later focused her studies on microbiology. She enjoyed her university education, and considered the botany department as a home for her because of the support she received from her professors, among whom were Dr. Abd al-Aal Mubashir, Dr. Abd al-Aziz Salama, Dr. Kamal Aziz, Dr. Helmy Bishai, Dr. Fouad George, and Dr. Mustafa Imam. Dorreya recalled that her professors were very helpful to all their students. Dorreya worked on specialized research in the field of industrial fermentation, investigating how certain materials can be used to produce microbes in large quantities for industrial use.
After her graduation, Dorreya was seconded to work at the Faculty of Women, upon Dr. Mustafa Imam’s advice, and since teaching assistants were needed there. As soon as the National Research Center announced its call for researchers, Dorreya applied to work there because it was the largest research center in the Middle East. There, she found tremendous resources, equipment, and all the preparations needed to help her become a true scientist, as she put it. As a result, Dorreya gave up the appointment at the Faculty of Women in order to pursue a full-time job at the Center.
Dorreya met her husband, who was also a graduate of the Faculty of Sciences, through a colleague at the National Research Center. They met at the Center, and expressed their admiration for one another, then he proposed to her. They later had two daughters together. Dorreya described their marriage as a partnership based on sharing and cooperation in all matters. They showed mutual care for each other while they were both busy with their research. Dorreya recounted that while she was working on her PhD research, her husband took care of their youngest daughter on his own, and assumed all her responsibilities. After her marriage, Dorreya continued her work at the Center. During her tenure, she earned her master’s degree in 1960, with a thesis on the production of lactic acid from sugar cane for industrial. She successfully managed to put her research into practical application and production.
In 1971, Dorreya earned her PhD, with research on the production of an amino acid that was found in high nutritional value foods such as eggs, dairy, fish, meat, and poultry, yet not found in vegetables, legumes, or dried powdered milk. She was interested in the production of the amino acid because of its important function to the brain and nerves, and for its use in psychological and neurological medications. Dorreya was the first researcher to conduct studies in this area of specialization. After obtaining her doctorate degree, Dorreya returned to work at the Faculty of Women when it announced its need for professors to work in her field of specialization.
Dorreya traveled to work in Saudi Arabia in 1976 when the Saudi state opened university education for girls. She worked in Jeddah at the General Presidency for Girls’ Education, at the Faculty of Education, and taught the first group of Saudi girls to graduate from university. Among those girls was a student who later became the Faculty’s Dean of the Literature Department. Ten years after Dorreya had returned to Egypt, she invited Dorreya to teach at Saudi Arabia again. Dorreya accepted the offer, and traveled to work at the same Faculty for six years. During this period, Dorreya supervised and examined a large number of important dissertations and scientific research, and became the Head of Control for eleven departments at the Faculty. She recounted that this stage of her life was challenging because she was in charge of a lot of responsibilities to the point that she sometimes had to work from seven in the morning until ten in the evening. Despite the difficulties, Dorreya did the work with consistent sincerity and devotion, and received great appreciation from the deans of the both the literature and science departments at the Faculty. She was also awarded many honorary shields and certificates of appreciation. Dorreya described this time as one of the happiest periods for her, and she maintained a close relationship with her students and colleagues, after returning to Egypt.
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