Zahira Abdin

Zahira Hafez Abdin (Arabic: زهيرة حافظ عابدين), (1917-2002) was an Egyptian paediatrician and specialist in rheumatic heart disease.
Life.
Zahira Abdin was born on 15 June 1917 in Cairo She was a daughter of Hafez Hussein Abdin, a lawyer, who also became a member of parliament. She went to Heliopolis Primary School and the Princess Fawzia Secondary School. In 1936 she secured the top mark in the Thanaweya Amma. She studied medicine at Cairo University. In 1943 she married Abdel Moneim Abdul Fadl, accompanying him to pursue a PhD in England. The pair had three daughters and one son. Mona Abul Fadl was a professor of political science at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science. Hoda Abdul Al-Fadl is a professor of pathology at Al-Qasr Al-Ayni. Omar Abdul-Fadl was an engineer. Adda Abdul Fadl, is Professor of Pediatrics at Benha University.
In 1956 Zahira Abdin became assistant professor at Cairo University, and was made professor in 1966. She pioneered social pediatrics in the Middle East. At that time rheumatic heart disease was a leading cause of childhood mortality in Egypt. Zahira Abdin led the effort against it, establishing the Free Pyramid Rheumatic Heart Center in 1957. in the 1960s she was the first to identify the streptococcal strain causing the disease. In 1975 she set up the Child Health Institute in Dokki, Cairo. In 1986 she set up the Dubai Medical College for Girls (DMCG).
Zahira Abdin co-founded the Association of Egyptian Women Doctors, editing its journal's first issues. She was the first Egyptian doctor, and the first Arab doctor, to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London. In 1990 the First Lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, awarded her the honorary title ‘Mother of Egyptian Doctors’. In 1991 she was the first woman from outside Europe to receive the Elisabeth Norgall prize.