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| Latifa Alnady - 1933 |
in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Yowm on the occasion of Amilia Earheart’s 115th birthday – a brief article comparing Earhart’s career to Egypt’s pioneering aviatrix, Latifa al-Nady. I can’t come across any source material other than a few newspaper articles, but evidently al-Nady was born in 1909 in Cairo. Her father worked in a print shop, and the family was well-off enough that she was able to attend the American College (later the American University of Cairo) seemingly on the encouragement of her mother. In 1932, while in college, she came across an advertisement calling for women to enter the newly established flight school in Cairo, and was welcomed by flight instructor Kamel Alawy.
Though her family was less than supportive of the idea, she was able to pay her own way for flight lessons by working as a secretary for the newly-founded EgyptAir in her spare time, saving up to earn what was only the 34thpilot license issued in Egypt. She participated in a number of air races, including a celebrated run from Cairo to Alexandria which she lost only on a technicality (which some chalked up to bias of the British-led judges’ council). In the process, she came into contact with early Egyptian feminist Hoda Shaarawi, who led an attempt to purchase a plane for her, as well as Amelia Earhart herself. The two pilots never met but exchanged a series of letters before Earhart’s disappearance in 1937. Sadly, al-Nady never received much recognition in Egypt at the time, and eventually emigrated to Switzerland, attaining Swiss citizenship shortly thereafter. She passed away in 1995, while a documentary film entitled “Takeoff from the Sand” (Arabic) was released shortly thereafter, although it since seems to have vanished from the face of the earth.
source : Al-Masry Al-Yowm
cr: to the translator
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