Her Story ... Feminist & Activist
XIII. The National Struggle and Revolution
Milestones:
1952 revolution ovethrew King Farouk
Bin Al Nil Union transforms into a political party
The national struggle continued with Bint al-Nil and Doria taking an active role in street protests, and training women in medical care to assist during protests in the Canal cities. Doria notes in her memoirs that in the autumn of 1951, “I, like several of my companions from Bint al-Nil, was in the grip of this fever. Like tens of thousands of others we were carried along by the spontaneity of our nationalist zeal.”
On July 1952, the Free Officers, a group of officers in the army, overthrows King Farouk. King Farouk goes into exile in Italy with his family and General Muhammad Naguib is elected president of Egypt.
Following the revolution, the Bint al-Nil Union transformed itself into a political party, with Doria as president. Doria was very supportive of the men of the revolution and the first few steps they undertook toward reforming so many outdated policies and issues. She wrote editorials praising Naguib and his supporters, “only a few months have elapsed and social reforms of the highest importance are beginning to emerge and take shape. Egypt has turned one of the most beautiful pages of history, where the people, guided by their liberator, Muhammad Naguib, have learned to break with the past, work with unfettered hands for the Egypt of tomorrow.”
