Nejla Abu-Izzedin
نجلاء أبو عزِّ الدين
Nejla Abu-Izzedin, from a 1946 Canadian newspaper
Born	May 22, 1907 Abadiyeh, Greater Syria (now Lebanon)
Died	2008
Other names	Nejla Izzedin, Najla Abou Ezzedine, Najla Abu Izzeddin, Naglaa Abu Ezz el-Din
Occupation(s)	Writer, anthropologist, diplomat, educator, historian

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.

Early life and education

Izzedin was born in Abadiyeh, the daughter of Mustafa Izzedin [ ar] 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 [ ar] and judge Muhammad Abu 'Izz al-Din [ ar]. 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).

Career

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]

Publications

• The History of Ibn al-Furāt (1939, 2 volumes, co-edited with Costi K. Zurayk)
• The Arab World, Past, Present, and Future (1953) ^[18]
• Nasser of the Arabs (1975 in French, 1981 in Arabic) ^[19]
• The Druzes: A New Study of their History, Faith, and Society (1984, 2nd ed. 1993) ^{[20] [21]}

References