Safiya Zaghloul ( / ; ; 1878–12 January 1946) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. She was among the early leaders of the

Wafd Party The Wafd Party (; , ''Ḥizb al-Wafd'') was a nationalist Liberalism, liberal political party in Egypt. It was said to be Egypt's most popular and influential political party for a period from the end of World War I through the 1930s. During th ...

Background

Zaghloul was born in 1878. Her father,

Mostafa Fahmy Pasha Mustafa Fahmi Pasha (; 11 June 1840 – 13 September 1914) was an Egyptian military officer and politician who served as the prime minister of Egypt for two times. Early life and education Born in Crete in 1840 to a Turkish family who had e ...

, was the seventh prime minister of Egypt. She married

Saad Zaghloul Saad Zaghloul Pasha ( / ; also ''Sa'd Zaghloul Pasha ibn Ibrahim'') (July 1857 – 23 August 1927) was an Egyptian revolutionary and statesman. He was the leader of Egypt's nationalist Wafd Party, and served as the first Honorary President of ...

in 1896, an Egyptian revolutionary and

Prime Minister of Egypt A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

from 26 January 1924 to 24 November 1924.

Activities

After the exile of her husband

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1919, she became a central figure of the

, and her home a center for the party. She organized a demonstration of 500 women. After the death of her spouse in 1927, Zaghloul was central in the appointment of a new party leader. In fact, she was the leader of the Women's Wafd. She retired from political life after the party split of 1937. She was known as O''m El-Masriyyin'' ( Mother of the Egyptians) and her home in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

was called as

Beit El-Umma Beit El-Umma or Bayt al-Umma (House of the People) is a historic house museum and Saad Zaghlul biographical museum in Cairo, Egypt. Saad Zaghlul Beit El-Umma, or House of the People, was built at the turn of the century as a residence for the ...

(House of the Nation).''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaghloul, Safiya 20th-century Egyptian women politicians 20th-century Egyptian politicians 1878 births 1946 deaths Egyptian Muslims Politicians from Cairo Egyptian people of Turkish descent