Born: 1912, Iraq
Died: 1975
Country most active: Iraq
Also known as: NA
Women’s rights activist Sabiha al-Shaikh Da’ud was one of Iraq’s first female lawyers.
When she was a child, her father Ahmad al-Shaikh Da’ud was among the Iraqi leaders arrested during the 1920 Iraqi revolt against the Britsh and was later exiled. Her mother, Na’ima Sultan Hamuda, also fought for women’s rights. In 1919, she encouraged Gertrude Bell to support education for girls; the following year, she led a Baghdad women’s committee to support the revolt, and she was one of the founding members of the Nadi al-Nahda al-Nisa’iyya (Women’s Awakening Club) in 1923.
Da’ud was one of the first Iraqi girls to receive a public education and in 1936, she became the first woman to study law at Iraq’s College of Law, where she was forced to sit apart from her male classmates. Da’ud later recalled that her father had urged her to attend to help clear a path for other girls, a sentiment her mother presumably shared. Although the family could have afforded to send Da’ud abroad to study, both parents cared deeply about promoting girls’ access to education in Iraq, particularly for those who did not have the option to send their children abroad.