Hettiyr Hossni

19th-century Egyptian feminist educator who established the first girls' schools in Cairo

Hettiyr Hossni (1812-1887) was a visionary educator from Alexandria who challenged gender norms in Ottoman Egypt. As a widow in her 30s, she used her inheritance to open Cairo's first girls' school in 1845, defying societal expectations that limited women's education to domestic skills. Her institution, Al-Marsad al-Nisawi (The Feminine Observatory), taught mathematics, astronomy, and modern languages alongside traditional subjects.

Hossni developed innovative pedagogical methods including the first Arabic-language textbooks for girls, which are still referenced in Cairo University's education archives (https://www.cu.edu.eg/archives). She pioneered apprenticeship programs connecting female students with professional women in medicine and commerce, creating Egypt's first female midwifery corps in 1863. This network treated over 5,000 patients annually by the 1870s.

Her 1858 treatise 《Women's Right to Knowledge》 argued that female education was essential for national progress, influencing Khedive Ismail's later education reforms. Hossni faced significant opposition, including arson attacks on her school in 1869, but expanded operations to Alexandria and Suez by the 1870s. Modern historians like Dr. Layla El-Assiouti credit her with laying the foundation for Egypt's feminist movement (《Foundations of Egyptian Feminism》).

She established the first teacher training program for female educators in 1875, creating a sustainable system that produced over 200 qualified instructors by her death. Hossni's legacy is commemorated in the Cairo Girls' Science Academy, which maintains her original curriculum materials. Her advocacy for girls' access to STEM education predated similar movements in Europe by decades, as documented in the British Museum's Middle Eastern collections (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection).