Zaynab Fawwaz


Zaynab Fawwāz was a pioneering Lebanese Shiite novelist, playwright, poet and historian of famous women. Her novel Ḥusn al-'Awāqib aw Ghādah al-Zāhirah is considered the first novel in Arabic written by a woman. Her play, al-Hawā wa-al-Wafā, is the first play written in Arabic by a woman.

Early life

Little is known of Zaynab's early life and accounts are divergent. In Joseph Zeidan's account:
On the other hand, Mirna Lattouf has her born into a prominent Shiite family in Tabnīn, in southern Lebanon. During her stay with al-Asʿad, Zaynab married one of the domestic workers. However, they would later divorce for reasons that remain unclear.

Literary career

Zaynab later moved to Alexandria, Egypt, where she became the student of the poet and owner of Al-Nil Magazine, Hasan Husni Pasha Al-Tuwayrani. Under his guidance, she began to write articles on social issues affecting women, under the pseudonym of Durrat al-Sharq.
According to the Critical Reference Guide of Arab Women Writers, Fawwaz was "the first woman's voice calling for the women's awakening and defending their rights, humanity, and equality with men." It was during her stay in Damascus with her second husband, the writer Adib Nazmi al-Dimashqi, that Zaynab Fawwaz founded a literary salon. As she wore the niqab and could not sit with the male participants; she would sit in another room of the house conducting the discussion, with her husband acting as the messenger for her and her guests.
Besides her journalism, Zaynab is particularly noted for her Kitāb al-Durr al-Manthūr fī Ṭabaqāt Rabbāt al-Khuduūr, a large-folio, 552-page biographical dictionary of some 456 women and their achievements.
Zaynab also wrote two novels and a play, putting her at the forefront of the emergence of the novel in Arabic. Her first novel was Ḥusn al-'Awāqib aw Ghādah al-Zāhirah. Her play, al-Hawā wa-al-Wafā, was the first play written in Arabic by a woman.