--- description: Nawal El Saadawi is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Nawal El Saadawi: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae739493e09bb5/698a0af109208f9a4441664d/social-1981_Nawal-El-Saadawi.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1981: Nawal El Saadawi Mar 5, 2020 11:39 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Portrait by Sarah Jane Moon for TIME; Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:39 AM CUT For Egyptian psychiatrist, feminist and novelist Nawal El Saadawi, prison was a rebirth. The 1972 publication of her fundamental work of feminist criticism, _Women and Sex,_ had cemented her reputation as a fearless commentator on women’s rights in Egypt. In 1981, she was jailed for “crimes against the state” for her outspoken views, including her criticism of female circumcision. For El Saadawi, the sentence was a clear demonstration of the link between political power and patriarchy. With eyebrow pencil and a roll of toilet paper, she wrote of her experience: [_Memoirs From the Women’s Prison_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520088883/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0520088883&linkId=cc6a0cd9c32fdeff175ba34e8318ca73 "undefined")_,_ published in 1983, became the basis of a continued body of work that has shaped the discourse on [women’s liberation](https://time.com/collection-post/5692973/zainab-fasiki-next-generation-leaders/ "undefined") in the Arab world. —_Aryn Baker_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/nawal-el-saadawi-1981-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793662/nawal-el-saadawi-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793662/nawal-el-saadawi-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1981: Nawal El Saadawi","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:39:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:27.663Z","description":"Nawal El Saadawi is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793662/nawal-el-saadawi-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae739493e09bb5/698a0af109208f9a4441664d/social-1981_Nawal-El-Saadawi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae739493e09bb5/698a0af109208f9a4441664d/social-1981_Nawal-El-Saadawi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1981 Nawal-El-Saadawi","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793662/nawal-el-saadawi-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1981: Nawal El Saadawi"}}]}] ```