Huda Sha’arawi, born Nour Al-Huda Mohamed Sultan Shaarawi on 23 June,1879 into a famous Egyptian family, was an Egyptian feminist leader and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union. She was raised and educated alongside her brothers, studying a number of subjects from an early age, including calligraphy, linguistics, and grammar. After her died, she was put under the guardianship of her cousin Ali Sha’arawi, who she would later marry when she was 13 years old. Despite the marriage, they spent much time apart, which offered Huda the opportunity to continue with her formal education and live a life of great independence. She encouraged other women to pursue this same independence, opening a school in 1910 where girls could learn academic subjects rather than practical skills like midwifery or homemaking. She also created the first philanthropic society run by Egyptian women that offered social services to poor women and children. 

In 1919, when Huda was 40 years old, the Egyptian Revolution took place, led by women who demanded an end to British colonialism and a release of the male nationalist leaders who had been taken to prison for their involvement in the nationalist movement. She worked alongside her husband, who was the Vice President of Wafd, a liberal nationalist party. After the protests, in 1920, the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee was founded in association with Wafd and Huda was elected the first president of the organization. 

After her husband died in 1922 and visiting the International Woman Suffrage Alliance Congress in Rome, she removed her headscarf, causing shock and admiration across the country. Many women followed suit, removing their headscarves as well. A year late, Huda founded the Egyptian Feminist Union, which was born from regular meetings she held at her home and which was created to reform personal freedoms laws and family and marriage laws. She continued to lead the EFU and publish the feminist magazine, l’Egyptienne, which she founded, until her death on December 12, 1947.