Khadījah Jahamī
{{Short description|Libyan writer and radio broadcaster}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Khadījah Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jahamī
| image = Khadījah al-Jahamī.jpg
| native_name = خديجة الجهمي
| native_name_lang = ar
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|03|15}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|08|11|1921|03|15}}
| citizenship = Libya
| occupation = Broadcaster; writer; lyricist; feminist activist
}}
Khadījah Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jahamī ({{Langx|ar|خديجة محمد عبد الله الجهمي}}; 15 March 1921 – 11 August 1996), also knowns as Bint al-Watan, was a Libyan writer and radio broadcaster, who is considered one of the pioneers of advocating for women's rights since the Italian colonial period in Libya.
Early life
Al-Jahamī was born in Benghazi on 15 March 1921.{{Cite web|date=2009-02-05|title={{!}}{{!}} Jeel Media - جيل {{!}}{{!}}|url=http://jeel-libya.net/show_article.php?id=12460§ion=12|access-date=2021-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205154548/http://jeel-libya.net/show_article.php?id=12460§ion=12|archive-date=2009-02-05}} Her father was the poet Muhammad Abdullah al-Jahmi, who worked as a typesetter for the newspaper Barid Barqa that the Italian colonial government published.{{Cite web|title=صُنَّاع الحياة – خديجة الجهمي {{!}} رواحل|url=https://rawahil.com/libyan-figures/khadija-aljahmi/|access-date=2021-01-02|language=en-US}} Her father encouraged her to attend school from the age of seven, where she was taught in Italian, as well as Arabic.{{Cite web|date=2008-02-16|title=المؤسسة العامة للإعلام الجماهيري|url=http://www.alelam.net/New/details.php?id=29&kind=PR|access-date=2021-01-01|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216025116/http://www.alelam.net/New/details.php?id=29&kind=PR|archive-date=2008-02-16}} As a young child, she wrote to Benito Mussolini criticising Italian colonialism in Libya.{{Cite web|title=خديجة الجهمي: "بنت الوطن" التي أغضبت موسوليني!|url=https://chakchouka-times.com/index.php/ar/%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%87%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D8%BA%D8%B6%D8%A8%D8%AA-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A|access-date=2021-01-02|website=Chakchouka Times|language=ar}}
During the Second World War, Al-Jahamī volunteered as a nurse.{{Cite web|last=الوسط|first=بوابة|title=خديجة الجهمي "بنت الوطن" سيرة إبداع|url=http://alwasat.ly/news/art-culture/49564|access-date=2021-01-01|website=Alwasat News|language=ar}} In 1947 she joined the Princess School in Benghazi, where she studied until August 1952. She then left for Egypt to study at Abdeen School in Cairo, which she graduated from in 1956.
Career
After al-Jahamī's graduation, she returned to Benghazi in October 1956 to join work as a broadcaster at Radio Benghazi.{{Cite web|title=خديجة الجهمي|url=https://honabenghazi.com.ly/index.php/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A/%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%86/%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%87%D9%85%D9%8A|access-date=2021-01-01|website=هنا بنغازي|language=ar-aa}} She became the second female Libyan broadcaster, after Hamida Abu Amer. She later moved to Tripoli to continue her journalism. She was sent on a 100-day training course where she met Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba. Through her work with "The Audible Theatre" programme, she performed many radio dramas, as well as presenting dozens of radio programmes, many of which focussed on health, children and Arab artists, amongst many other themes. These dramas were vital in enabling women's issues in particular to be brought to a wider audience.
Al-Jahamī is also a writer beyond radio broadcasting, who has written several books, poetry and song lyrics, which have been performed by many Libyan singers. The most notable song she wrote was Nour Al-Ain, which was performed by Muhammad Marchan.
As a magazine publisher and editor she established Al-Bayt (the Women's Magazine) on 5 January 1964, was the owner and also its editor at one point.{{Cite book|last=الهواري|first=محمد|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_JHDwAAQBAJ|title=أعلام الأدب العربي المعاصر (ترجمة حقيقية لـ 50 شخصية أدبية)|date=2017-01-01|publisher=Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية|isbn=978-2-7451-0128-0|pages=19|language=ar}} She founded the first children's magazine In Libya, Al-Amal, and was appointed its editor on 1 October 1974. The magazine encouraged young people to be trained as journalists.
Within unionism and politics, she was a key figure in the establishment of the General Women's Union in Libya, which was the amalgamation of several feminist groups in 1970.{{Cite web|title=Libya - Society of the Revolutionary Era|url=http://countrystudies.us/libya/49.htm|access-date=2021-01-02|website=countrystudies.us}} She became its president in 1972.{{Cite web|title=الاذاعية خديجة الجهمي|url=https://www.culture.gov.ly/cultural-figures/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%b0%d8%a7%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%ae%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%ac%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%87%d9%85%d9%8a/|access-date=2021-01-02|website=الهيئة العامة للثقافة|language=ar}} In 1977 the organization was re-named as the Jamahiriya Women's Federation.
Al-Jahamī died on 11 August 1996 and was buried in her hometown of Benghazi. she was born in Libya.
Awards
Legacy
In 2019 Abdul Rahman Shalgam, Libya's former foreign minister, wrote that al-Jahamī "launched a quiet social revolution" through her writing and broadcasting, despite opposition from conservative sections of Libyan society.{{Cite web|title=عبد الرحمن شلقم - خديجة الجهمي عقل ليبيا العابر للزمان|url=https://aawsat.com/home/article/1716546/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%B4%D9%84%D9%82%D9%85/%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%87%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84-%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86|access-date=2021-01-01|website=الشرق الأوسط|language=ar}} Part of her broadcasting appeal was due to her "soft eastern Libyan accent", as well as the confidential and welcoming tone she used to appeal to all sections of society.
Several Libyan institutions are named after her, including schools and libraries, as well as the Women’s Library in Tripoli.
Two biographies of al-Jahamī have been published. In 2006 Amina Hussein Bin Amer's book Khadija El-Jahmi: Half a Century of Creativity (خديجة الجهمي: نصف قرن من الإبداع) was published.{{Cite book|last=حسين|first=بن عامر، أمينة|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6kHAQAAMAAJ|title=خديجة الجهمي: نصف قرن من الإبداع|date=2006|publisher=مجلس الثقافة العام،|language=ar}} In the same year Asmāʼ Muṣṭafá Usṭá's volume I am Khadija El-Jahmi (أنا خديجة الجهمي) also came out.{{Cite book|last1=Usṭá|first1=Asmāʼ Muṣṭafá|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ed8HAQAAMAAJ|title=أنا خديجة الجهمي|last2=مصطفى|first2=أسطى، أسماء|date=2006|publisher=مجلس الثقافة العام،|language=ar}}
References
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7sV3PXK_0I خديجة الجهمي]: "بنت الوطن" التي أغضبت موسوليني
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jahami, Khadijah}}
Category:20th-century Libyan writers
Category:20th-century Libyan women writers