Lutfiyah Al-Nadi; (1906 – 2002)
Lutfiyah Al-Nadi لــُــطــفــيــة الــنــادى was the first Egyptian and African female pilot كابتن طيار . At the age of 26, she became the first Egyptian woman to fly her plane from Cairo to Alexandria.
Lutfiyah was born in 1906. When she finished her school, she decided to join the newly-established School of Aviation مدرسة الطيران . The idea was strongly rejected by her father but seeing her insistence إصرار , he finally resigned. Willing to achieve her dream حـُـلـم , Lutfiyah got a job at Egypt Air and from her own earnings, she paid the fees مـصـروفات for the aviation lessons.
In 1933 and after only three months from her enrolling, Lutfiyah got her Pilot License رخـصـة الـطـيـران . She was the graduate number 34. All graduates who preceded her were only men. Her teacher of English was a big supporter of her. He sent her pictures to international newspapers; a thing that made her famous all over the world. In the same year, Lutfiyah participated in the International Aviation Competition سباق الطيران الدولى from Cairo to Alexandria. Lutfiyah came first in the this competition. After her great success, her father became fully-convinced of her capabilities and was especially proud of فخور بـ her, when she took him in a tour in her plane around Cairo.
Lutfiyah, was one of the founders of the Pilots’ Club نادى الطيارين and was its General Secretary for twenty years. In the 1950s, she got a serious injury during one of her landings and had to travel to Switzerland for cure.
Lutfiyah got a lot of medals from a number of presidents around the world. Her self-respect احترام الذات , determination عزم / إصرار and ambition طـُـمـوح gained her the status of women’s Equal Rights Advocate. She played an important role in the feminist movement الحركة النسائية in the Middle East at the first half of the nineteenth century. She was also an inspiration إلهام of all other women around the world. Lutfiyah was a close friend to Amelia Earhart and they both exchanged letters about their flights and travels.
In 1996, a documentary film فيلم وثائقى was made about her life. The documentary has the name of “taking off from Sand الإقلاع من الرمل “. When she was asked why she wanted to fly, she answered;”I learnt to fly because I love to be free.” Lutfiyah never married and she died at the age 95 in Cairo, Egypt in 2002 among family and friends.
*****
Check us back soon
Peace ســـلام /Salam/
