Kubra Noorzai

Kubra Noorzai (1932–1986) was an Afghan politician. She was the first woman to become a government minister in the country,[1] serving as Minister of Public Health between 1965 and 1969.

Kubra Noorzai
Minister of Public Health
In office
1965–1969
Member of the Loya Jirga
In office
1977
Personal details
Born1932
Kabul, Afghanistan
Died1986
Kabul, Afghanistan

Biography

Noorzai was born in Kabul, one of nine children. She was educated at the Lycée Malalaï, before graduating from the College of Science at Kabul University.[2][3] Noorzai subsequently returned to Lycée Malalaï, becoming its headteacher and later headed the Women's Faculty at Kabul University.[3] In 1958 she moved to France, where she studied at the University of Paris for a year.[2][3] She worked as a school inspector for girls schools,[4] and served as director of the Feminine Charitable Institute in Kabul.[5] She also became Dean of the College of Home Economics.[6]

One of the leading feminists in Afghanistan, Noorzai was one of the first women to stop wearing a veil in public, after Queen Humaira Begum had set the example by appearing without hers in 1959.[4] She was an Afghan delegate at UNESCO and the International Women's Congress meeting in Dublin.[2] In 1964 King Mohammed Zahir Shah appointed her to an advisory committee that reviewed the draft 1964 constitution,[7] which granted women the right to vote and stand for election. Following the August–September 1965 elections, she was appointed Minister of Public Health by Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal on 1 December 1965,[8] becoming the first women minister in Afghanistan. She remained in office until 1969.[9]

As director of the Women's Institute, she was elected to the Loya Jirga in 1977 during the rule of President Mohammed Daoud Khan.[10]

Never married, she died at her home in the Kārte Seh neighbourhood of Kabul in 1986.[3]

References
  1. George Grassmuck, Ludwig W. Adamec & Frances H. Irwin (1969) Afghanistan, Some New Approaches, p319
  2. Lucie Street (1967) The Tent Pegs of Heaven: A Journey Through Afghanistan, p168
  3. Kubra Nurzai, 1932-1986, 1st Woman Minister of Afghanistan Abarzanan
  4. Tamim Ansary (2012) Games without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan
  5. Information Bulletin 1960 - Library of Congress, p627
  6. The Kabul Times Annual, Volume 1, p15
  7. Sarfraz Khan (2013) Politics of policy and legislation affectin g women in Afghanistan: One step forward two steps back Central Asia Journal, Number 73
  8. Breaks Barrier Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2 December 1965
  9. Rosemarie Skaine (2010) The Women of Afghanistan Under the Taliban
  10. Suad Joseph & Afsāna Naǧmābādī (2003) Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics] p788
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