Women’s Oral History Archive Podcast Laha fe el Tarekh Alamat
Her Mark in History: A Podcast for Pioneer Women’s Voices
Her Mark in History is a multimedia project launched by the Women and Memory Forum (WMF) in December 2024 to narrate women’s history in Egypt through a combination of traditional and contemporary media. A Podcast for Pioneer Women’s Voices is the first phase of Her Mark in History, and on 25 December the first episode was shared on online social media platforms.
The podcast features audio clips from the oral history interviews conducted by the WMF to document the life stories of pioneer Egyptian women in the Women’s Oral History Archive. Clips from interviews recorded across 30 years were selected for 15 short podcast episodes, each dedicated to a pioneer Egyptian woman. A Podcast for Pioneer Women’s Voices gives the wider public, especially the younger generation, access to women’s history narrated in their own voices, aiming to keep women’s memory and life experiences present and heard.
In addition to the podcast, Her Mark in History includes multimedia traveling exhibitions of women’s history in Egypt since the 1930s. This project is part of the WMF’s mission to document and narrate Egypt’s history and collective memory from the perspective of the women who left their mark in history and via sources that bring together the public and the private. The project revives the memory of Egypt’s pioneer women and introduces the younger generation to the public roles and contributions of the women marginalized in official history narratives.
Nadia Lutfi (1937-2020)
Nadia is a pioneer of Egyptian and Arab cinema. In addition to her acting career, she left her mark on Egypt’s history by volunteering with the Red Crescent during the 1967 and 1973 wars, travelling on the Mercy Trains to raise funds, visiting the troops on the front during the War of Attrition, and volunteering for months at al-Qasr al-Aini Hospital.
Nazli Qabil (1927-2020)
Nazli is a pioneer of nursing and the recipient of the IFRC Florence Nightingale Award. She left her mark on Egypt’s history by developing the healthcare system and civil society organizations through her family planning and health awareness campaigns and community nursing projects, in addition to serving as the President of the Nurses Syndicate and the medical and housing aid coordinator during the 1992 earthquake.
Awatif Abd al-Karim (1931-2021)
Awatif is a pioneer of music education in Egypt. She left her mark on Egypt’s history by developing the academic study of music and founding departments of music theories and composition in several Egyptian educational institutions. She served on UNESCO’s International Music Council and the Music Committee of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Culture, in addition to working as a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Music Education.
Hikmat Abu Zayd (1922-2011)
Hikmat is a pioneer of civil society and the first woman to serve as a minister in Egypt. She left her mark on Egypt’s history by working in the City Council and Social Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture, teaching urban and rural sociology at Cairo University, and leading the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Rahma Nashaat
Rahma is a pioneer of social service and activism. She left her mark on Egypt’s history by providing medical aid during the cholera outbreak and social aid to Palestinian refugees in Egypt, in addition to volunteering as an army medical officer during the 1948 War which earned her the Golden Order of Merit. She joined the Women’s Party to fight for women’s political rights and founded several facilities to provide care to children, the elderly, and women university students.
Ikhlas Azmi (1921-2012)
Ikhlas is a pioneer of education and student activism. In addition to working as a schoolteacher, she left her mark on Egypt’s history when she became one of the first Egyptian women employed as a university professor at Cairo University. She mobilized university students and professors against the British Occupation of Egypt and the Israeli Occupation of the East Bank of the Suez Canal.