Her Story ... Woman & Family
Milestones:
DS blossoms at Sorbonne 1928-1932
Receives Licence libre and Licence d’état
Major acheivements as Muslim Egyptian woman
Image Doria Shafik: courtesy of Rare Books & Special Collections Library, AUC
IV. Paris and the Sorbonne
Doria arrived in Paris and began her studies in August 1928. Paris opened up a whole new world for Doria. A world of ideas, philosophy, and the role of women in society – these ideas all began to take root in Doria at this time and she began to develop and understand the issues that would dominate her life from this point onwards. She completed her Licence libre and Licence d’état, both major achievements for any woman of that era, let alone a young Muslim Egyptian woman. However, in order to continue studying at the Sorbonne, Doria was required to return to Egypt to apply for a new scholarship. Upon leaving France in July 1932, she mused, “I felt a tremendous moral compensation, I had imposed my will and fulfilled my own dream; I had studied philosophy and I obtained my Licence d’état at the Sorbonne.”
On her way back to Egypt, Doria was conflicted by longing and fear. Longing for returning to her birth country and being reunited with family and loved ones and fear for being seen as different and for having changed during her few years away. Rêverie d’une Femme d’aujourd’hui
