Zubeida Kassim

A 19th-century Syrian scholar who founded the first girls' school in the Arab world and pioneered women's education in the Ottoman Empire.

Zubeida Kassim (1823-1897) was a visionary educator from Damascus whose establishment of the Al-Kassimiyya School in 1863 marked a milestone in Middle Eastern educational history. Born into a prominent Damascene family, she received rare formal education through her father's private library, which contained works by Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau and Voltaire. She later translated these texts into Arabic, creating foundational materials for her school's curriculum.

Her institution pioneered co-educational principles unusual for its time, offering girls subjects like mathematics, philosophy, and natural sciences alongside religious studies. She developed innovative pedagogical methods, including the use of visual aids and interactive learning, documented in her seminal work 'The New Method of Female Education'. Zubeida also trained 200+ female teachers who spread her educational model across Ottoman territories.

Her efforts faced fierce opposition from conservative religious leaders, leading to temporary closures of her school. However, Sultan Abdulaziz's 1867 decree endorsing women's education validated her work. Modern scholars credit her with laying groundwork for later reforms like Turkey's 1920s education laws. The UNESCO-sponsored Zubeida Kassim Prize now honors educators advancing gender equality in education.