Hana Sirry

Egyptian feminist who pioneered women's education in rural areas during British occupation

Hana Sirry (1912-1969) defied societal norms to establish Egypt's first rural girls' schools in the 1940s. A Cairo University graduate (1935), she founded the Sirry Educational Network which built 23 schools in Upper Egypt using innovative mobile classroom programs. Her <《The Path to Light》 memoir reveals her strategies to convince conservative families through Quranic education. Sirry developed the first Arabic literacy curriculum using local folklore, teaching 15,000+ women to read by 1952. She trained 300 female teachers who later formed the core of Nasser's national education system. UNESCO honored her posthumously in 1975 for transforming rural education paradigms. Her legacy continues through the Hana Sirry Memorial Scholarship, supporting girls in Nubian villages since 1963.