Sitting across from Taha Hussien, the Blind Dean of Arabic Literature, is an ambitious, headstrong young woman. She weighs down papers with her wrist, and observes her supervisor with a steady gaze: Suhayr al-Qalamawi is a woman who “drew the image of the Arabic cultural renaissance” in the 20th century. With a golden intellectual fingerprint, this young mind would soon become one of Egypt’s enduring educators, and an essential figure in international intellectual fields. Above all, Qalamawi was a literary researcher who inaugurated the Cairo International Bookfair, introducing Egypt to an exhaustive global library. Born in 1911 in Cairo, Egypt, Qalamawi’s family was set on educating their daughters. Her father was an established surgeon, her mother was fluent in countless languages, and together they created an environment that cultivated Qalamawi’s literary inclinations. With a soft heart for humanities, Qalamawi’s father fostered her linguistic and cultural knowledge by introducing her to the Qur’an—considered not only the core node of Islam but also the single finest piece of Arabic literature. Qalamawi excelled at reading the Holy book shortly after, and her father’s library became a haven for her developing interests. Thought leaders…
