Atiya Faizee (1877-1967)
Born: in Istanbul, raised in Mumbai (Bombay)
Family: Tayabi (Sulaimani Bohra community)
Father: Hasanally Hasnally Feyzhyder, an Indian trader in cloth and spices connected to the Ottoman Court, and his first wife, who was also his second cousin.
Education: Catholic English School, Urdu, Persian, and Quran at home. Maria Grey College – England.
Profession: Writer, educationalist and traveler. The first Muslim woman in India to receive a modern education, involve herself in women’s activism and appear without a veil in public.
Intellectual Friendship: Allama Iqbal, Shibli Naumani, Hafiz Jalandhari and Mohammad Ali Jauhar.
Activism: With her sisters Zehra and Nazli attended as delegates to the First All India Muslim Ladies Conference.
Husband: Samuel Rahamin
Work: During her visit to England she wrote a travel diary (Rosnamchah) where she mentioned about her life in England, life of English people and her contacts with Indian writers and activists.
Which was later published in an Urdu magazine ’Tahzib-e-Niswa’ (civilization of women). Later it was compiled and published in the form of book in 1921 and called ‘Zamana-I-tahsil’ (A time of Education).
Personal life: At the age of 35 in 1912 she married Samuel Rahamin. He was an artist from the Jewish community of Pune who had converted to Islam in order to marry her.
After marriage, Atiya changed her name to Atiya Rahamin-Fyzee and accompanied her husband on his international travels to galleries where his art was displayed, including the United States.
In 1948 Atiya Faizee moved to Pakistan and was given a palatial house in Karachi. Later the couple were evicted from the house. They faced financial difficulties in the later stage of their life and survived with the help of their relatives. Atiya Faizee died on the 4th of January 1967 in Karachi.
