Zehra Fyzee

Zehra Fyzee
Born1866[1]
Died23 December 1940[1]
OccupationJournalist, writer
RelativesTyabji family

Zehra Fyzee (1866–1940) was a writer, playwriter and editor working in India in the early part of the twentieth century.[2] She was a leading contributor to Urdu women's journals of the time.[3]

Zehra Fyzee was the eldest of three sisters born to Hasanally Feyzhyder and Amirunnisa Fyzee.[1][4] Her sisters Atiya Fyzee (1877-1967) and Nazli Begum (1874-1968) were also writers. All the sisters were raised in Mazagaon, Mumbai under the influence of their great-uncle, Badruddin Tyabji.[1]

In 1905, Fyzee presided over a women's gathering connected to the Muhammadan Educational Conference. In 1914 she was elected to the working committee of the All India Muslim Ladies Conference[1]

Writing and editing career

Fyzee was a regular contributor to Urdu women's magazines, including Tehzeeb-e-Niswan, Khaton and Ismat.[5][3]

In 1921, Zehra Fyzee's articles were collated into a book, published as Mazamin (Significations). Her play, Mal-i-khatun (Women's Riches), was published in the same year.[1]

Fyzee also wrote a book on women's health, Tandarusti Hazar Naimat (Health is Wealth) in 1934.[3]

Fyzee edited her sister Atiya's letters and diaries before passing them to Muhammadi Begum for publication in Tehzeeb-e-Niswan. She also edited Nazli's travelogue, Sair-i-Yurop (Travel to Europe), and her mother's books of poetry: Yadgari-Amira and Amin.

Zehra Fyzee died on 23 December 1940.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan (2012). "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/102457. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1. Retrieved 25 June 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Hasan, MD Mahmudul. "Atiya: The most iconoclastic of the Fyzee sisters". Literature at Portsmouth. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan; Sharma, Sunil (2010). Atiya's journeys: a Muslim woman from colonial Bombay to Edwardian Britain. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 263. ISBN 9780198068334. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  4. ^ Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan; Majchrowicz, Daniel; Sharma, Sunil (2022). Three centuries of travel writing by Muslim women. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253062390. JSTOR j.ctv2nwq9jx. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. ^ Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan (2007). Muslim Women, Reform and Princely Patronage. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 9781134143474. Retrieved 3 June 2023.