Latifa az-Zayyat

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Latifa az-Zayyat (also Latifa Al-Sajjat or Al-Zayyat , Arabic لطيفة الزيات, DMG Laṭīfa az-Zayyāt ; * August 8, 1923 in Damietta , Dumyat; † 1996 in Cairo ) was an Arabic writer.

She is one of the most distinctive female characters in the second half of the twentieth century. She was a feminist , political activist, professor at Ain Shams University and a writer. The struggle against encrusted social structures, repressive political rule and the pervasive influence of the colonialist exercise of power determined this path of life.

Her main work, the novel "The Open Gate", was published in 1960 and was later made into a film. In addition to her autobiography, "Searches" (1992), which she had published four years before her death, she left behind other novels and numerous short stories.