Born: 26 June 1913, Lebanon
Died: 14 January 2016
Country most active: Lebanon
Also known as: Arabic: أنيسة روضة نجار
Anissa Rawda Najjar was a Lebanese feminist and women’s rights activist, who co-founded the Village Welfare Society (Jam`iyat In`ash Al-Qarya) with Evelyne Bustros in 1953, to advance literacy and economic opportunities for rural women in Lebanon.
Najjar also worked for the establishment of schools and clinics accessible to rural families. She created a certificate called the “Rural Brevet”, as an incentive for women to attend her society’s workshops on literacy, childcare, nutrition, hygiene and agriculture. The program soon expanded to include broader topics such as literature, politics, music and religion. She also served as secretary of the Lebanese Council of Women, and as general secretary of the Druze Orphanage from 1948 and helped found Lebanon’s League for Good Housekeeping.
Outside of Lebanon, she was principal of two girls’ schools in Iraq for five years during World War II and was a regular delegate to international women’s conferences, representing Lebanese women. This included UNESCO events, the Third World Conference on Women in 1985, in Nairobi, and the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, in Beijing. She helped found her country’s chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1961, and was elected vice-president of the international organization in 1977 and again in 1983.
A postage stamp featuring Najjar’s face and name was issued in 2014 shortly after her 100th birthday. She was twice awarded the Lebanese Order of Merit medal, as well as the Lebanese Army Shield.