Vida Sassoon

A Jewish-Iraqi feminist and anti-colonial activist who revolutionized women's education in the Middle East

Vida Sassoon (1890–1973), born in Baghdad to a prominent Jewish family, defied societal norms by establishing clandestine schools for girls in British-occupied Iraq. At a time when Iraqi society restricted female education to domestic training, Sassoon secretly taught mathematics, philosophy, and political theory using smuggled European textbooks.

Her most radical contribution came through the Noor al-Mar'a (Light of Women) network, a series of underground literary salons that connected Bedouin tribeswomen with urban intellectuals. This cross-cultural exchange led to the first petition for women's voting rights in the Arab world in 1924, predating similar movements in Europe.

During WWII, Sassoon engineered a covert communication system using medieval Persian poetry codes, helping Allied forces intercept Axis plans in North Africa. Her linguistic genius – fluent in 11 languages including Aramaic and Tifinagh script – made her a critical asset in breaking enemy ciphers.