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Nejla Abu-Izzedin

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Nejla Abu-Izzedin
نجلاء أبو عزِّ الدين
A woman with olive skin, dark hair and eyes
Nejla Abu-Izzedin, from a 1946 Canadian newspaper
BornMay 22, 1907
Abadiyeh, Greater Syria (now Lebanon)
Died2008(2008-00-00) (aged 100–101)
Other namesNejla 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

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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

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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

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  • 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

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  1. ^ a b Birthdate, parents' names, and identitification photo from Najla Abou Ezzeddine's 1947 consular pass, in the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ a b "Najla Abu Izzeddin". Institute for Palestine Studies. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  3. ^ "V.C. Seniors and Grads Receive Honor Awards". Vassar Miscellany News. March 11, 1939. pp. 1, 2.
  4. ^ "Izzeddin Presents Picture Of Syria". Vassar Chronicle. June 9, 1945. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Dr. Nejla Izzedin to Speak Here Wednesday Night; IRC to Sponsor Foremost Arabian Scholar". The Daily Tar Heel. 1947-01-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Arab woman lecturer on tour across Canada". The Leader-Post. 1946-10-17. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Report on the Activities of the Arab Office, Washington, for the First Six Months Beginning Nov.1.1945 (Excerpts)". Wilson Center Digital Archive. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  8. ^ Rickenbacher, Daniel (Spring 2020). "The Arab League's Propaganda Campaign in the US Against the Establishment of a Jewish State (1944–1947)". Israel Studies. 25 (1): 1. doi:10.2979/israelstudies.25.1.01.
  9. ^ "Flynn Talk Cancelled; IRC Presents Izzedin Tonight; IRC Introduces World Authority on Arab Nations". The Daily Tar Heel. 1947-01-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Arab Anthropologist Nejla Izzedin Speaks About Arabia Today" Vassar Miscellany News (April 28, 1954): 1.
  11. ^ "Lebanese Speaks". Evening Star. 1946-01-15. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Politics Charged in Zionist Efforts to Gain Jews a Home". Kingsport Times-News. 1946-03-17. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Palestinian Arab Situation Told by Y. W. Speaker". The Herald-Palladium. 1946-05-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Nelson, Ray (1947-03-27). "Lebanese Scholar Describes Arab Reaction to Jew Issue". The Herald-Journal. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Traveling Arab Propagandists Menace Israel". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. 1954-06-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Papers of Alphonse Mingana, Correspondence with Nejla Izzedin and Arthur Jeffery, Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
  17. ^ "Notes of the Society". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 51 (3): 290. 1931. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 593458.
  18. ^ Wood, Percy (1953-11-01). "Interpreting the Views of 70 Million Arabs/Percy Wood". Chicago Tribune. p. 209. Retrieved 2023-08-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Al-Husry, Khaldun S. (1975). Izzeddin, Nejla M. Abu (ed.). "Nasser's Egypt". Journal of Palestine Studies. 5 (1/2): 158–159. doi:10.2307/2535689. ISSN 0377-919X. JSTOR 2535689.
  20. ^ Betts, Robert Brenton (February 1989). "Nejla M. Abu-Izzedin, The Druzes: A New Study of Their History, Faith, and Society (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984). Pp. 259". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 21 (1): 148–150. doi:10.1017/S0020743800032232. ISSN 1471-6380. JSTOR 163652.
  21. ^ Izzeddin, Nejla M. Abu (1993-01-01). The Druzes: A New Study of Their History, Faith, and Society. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09705-6.
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