The Widad Mitri Private Collection

Widad Mitri collection contains her private papers, such as her CV, her school, university, and honorary certificates, her own personal photos and photos of others she knew and worked with throughout various stages and time periods. The papers also include her correspondences with various organizations. In addition, the collection includes rare newspaper clippings that contribute to an understanding of important periods in the history of the Arab region and her handwritten private notes and memoirs that she recorded during her travels. The WMLDC considers this rare collection part of its general interest in preserving national memory and documenting social history, as recorded through these private papers.

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Widad Mitri (1927- 2007)
 

Widad Mitri Antoun was born December 9th, 1927 in Shubra, Cairo. She was a prominent figure in the national leftist movement and women's activism of the time and was also a pioneer in social service work. She obtained a BA degree in Philosophy from the University of Fou'ad I in 1952 (now Cairo University), worked in the field of teaching for seven years, and was the first to initiate a course in school journalism. She was politically active during the years from 1956 to 1967 and joined the Egyptian Communist movement at the age of twenty-three. She was an ardent supporter of the Palestinian cause, and she joined in 1956 the Women's Committee for People's Resistance. Widad Mitri was the first founder of a women's organization in the village of Barageel in Fayoum. She received from Cairo University an honorary certificate during the 90-year anniversary commemoration of the university's establishment and the College of Media's celebrating 60 years of founding the Department of Media Studies. This recognition was "an acknowledgement of her distinctive contribution in the development of Egyptian media throughout the rich years of her work and her genuine efforts in the service of our beloved country"—as was scripted in the certificate.

"She was not only a capable teacher and instructor, but also a role model. She turned a school hated by students and run by a hard and tyrannical principal to a place they longed to go to in order to meet with their beloved teacher, Mrs. Widad."
-- a quote by one of her students