Nejla Mustafa Abu-Izzedin ( Arabic: نجلاء أبو عزِّ الدين; May 22, 1907 [1] – 2008), also known as Najla Abu Izzeddin, [2] was a Lebanese anthropologist, educator, historian, and diplomat. She was a lecturer on Arab topics in North America in the 1940s and 1950s, and author of several histories of the Arab world. She co-founded the Institute for Palestinian Studies in Beirut in 1963.
Izzedin was born in Abadiyeh, the daughter of Mustafa Izzedin and Halineh Izzedin. [1] Her family were Druze; her father was a military physician and public health official. Her uncles were journalist Suleiman Abu Izzaddin and judge Muhammad Abu 'Izz al-Din . She attended the American School for Girls in Beirut, the Lycée Racine in Paris, and graduated from Vassar College in 1930. [3] [4] In 1934, she became the first Arab woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Her master's thesis was titled " Taha Husain and the dawn of Islam", and her doctoral dissertation was titled "The racial origins of the Druzes" (1934).
Izzedin taught anthropology at a teachers' college in Baghdad after graduate school, and was the first woman to teach male students there. She also taught at the American College in Beirut, [5] and was principal of a girls' school in Damascus. [6] During World War II she lived in London, where she did research for her book on Arab history, and worked on establishing the Arab League. [7]
Beginning in 1945, Izzedin was on the staff of the Washington, D.C., office of the Arab League. [7] [8] She was a delegate to the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in San Francisco in 1945. She lectured in the United States and Canada in the 1940s, [6] [9] and after the publication of her book, The Arab World, Past, Present, and Future (1953), with sponsorship from the American Friends of the Middle East. [10] She often addressed women's organizations, including the YWCA, the Daughters of the American Revolution, [11] the League of Women Voters, [12] and the American Association of University Women (AAUW). [13] [14] Some Jewish organizations opposed her public appearances. [15] She corresponded with scholar Alphonse Mingana. [16]
Izzedin became a member of the American Oriental Society in 1931. [17] She was a founder of the Institute for Palestinian Studies in Beirut in 1963. [2]
Nejla Mustafa Abu-Izzedin ( Arabic: نجلاء أبو عزِّ الدين; May 22, 1907 [1] – 2008), also known as Najla Abu Izzeddin, [2] was a Lebanese anthropologist, educator, historian, and diplomat. She was a lecturer on Arab topics in North America in the 1940s and 1950s, and author of several histories of the Arab world. She co-founded the Institute for Palestinian Studies in Beirut in 1963.
Izzedin was born in Abadiyeh, the daughter of Mustafa Izzedin and Halineh Izzedin. [1] Her family were Druze; her father was a military physician and public health official. Her uncles were journalist Suleiman Abu Izzaddin and judge Muhammad Abu 'Izz al-Din . She attended the American School for Girls in Beirut, the Lycée Racine in Paris, and graduated from Vassar College in 1930. [3] [4] In 1934, she became the first Arab woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Her master's thesis was titled " Taha Husain and the dawn of Islam", and her doctoral dissertation was titled "The racial origins of the Druzes" (1934).
Izzedin taught anthropology at a teachers' college in Baghdad after graduate school, and was the first woman to teach male students there. She also taught at the American College in Beirut, [5] and was principal of a girls' school in Damascus. [6] During World War II she lived in London, where she did research for her book on Arab history, and worked on establishing the Arab League. [7]
Beginning in 1945, Izzedin was on the staff of the Washington, D.C., office of the Arab League. [7] [8] She was a delegate to the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in San Francisco in 1945. She lectured in the United States and Canada in the 1940s, [6] [9] and after the publication of her book, The Arab World, Past, Present, and Future (1953), with sponsorship from the American Friends of the Middle East. [10] She often addressed women's organizations, including the YWCA, the Daughters of the American Revolution, [11] the League of Women Voters, [12] and the American Association of University Women (AAUW). [13] [14] Some Jewish organizations opposed her public appearances. [15] She corresponded with scholar Alphonse Mingana. [16]
Izzedin became a member of the American Oriental Society in 1931. [17] She was a founder of the Institute for Palestinian Studies in Beirut in 1963. [2]