Anniversary of Dawlat Abiad, first Egyptian actress
Egypt, People, 1/1/2003

The first Egyptian actress, wife and lifetime partner of Egyptian theater pioneer George Abiad, Dawlat Abiad was born on January 29,1884, with the maiden name of Dawlat Habeeb Boutros Qasabgi.

As her father, as an employee of the Translation Department of the Ministry of War in the Sudan, was required to move from one place to another, he sent his daughter to a boarding nun school, where she learnt English and Italian. In 1912, she got married to a Ministry of war employee. How- ever, this marriage lasted only for five years.

Career

Dawlat's talent for dramatic acting was quite manifest since she was a student at the boarding school, where she played many parts at the school theater. Her passion for acting became stronger, when she met the then famous dramatic artist Azeez Eed, a relative of her family, at her sister's wedding ceremony. Impressed by her beauty and talent, Azeez Eed invited her to join his dramatic troupe as the main actress. She left her family to Alexandria, the seat of Eed's theatrical troupe. However, Dawlat did not like the type of drama presented by Eed's troupe, being mainly comedies, and therefore left one month later. Azeez Eed sent her to al Reehani's troupe, which was also presenting comedies. She stayed only for four days and left for the same reason. AI-Reehani in turn sent her to George Abiad who was presenting the dramatic genre she had been looking for; tragedies.

At the age of twenty-three, Dawlat found her first chance in 1917, when the actress playing Queen Jocuste in Oedipus fell, and Dawlat played this part so well that she attracted the admiration of George Abiad.

During 1919, she toured, as a member of Geoge Abiad's troupe, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Algeria, where she presented serious and high- quality plays. In 1923, she married George Abiad.

Major Roles Played

Dawlat Abiad personified major classical roles at George Abiad's theater, chief of which was Desdemona in Othello and Daliala in Samson and Daliala.

In the cinema, she played several serious parts, including " Zainab the first Egyptian mute film directed by Mohammad kareem during the forties, in addition to other films such as " Awlad az -Zawat " ( The Gentry ) the White Rose, " Teenagers " and "M's Empire" in 1973, which was her last.

In 1935, Dawlat Abiad joined the National theater troupe, where she played a major part in "Andromaque." When the troupe was re-formed in 1942, Dawlat was also a prominent member of the cast.

Mrs. Abiad also worked for several other troupes including Munira- al Mahdeya's and Sayyed Darweesh's. She kept a literary saloon, where literary, dramatic and musical celebrities regularly met.

In 1944, Mrs. Abiad resigned from the National troupe, and established her own troupe, which gave performance on her privately- owned theater house built next to her home, in addition to cinema Honululo.

In 1922, Mrs. Abiad wrote a play, discussing problems of Egyptian women at the early 20th Century. Later, she wrote another play entitled "Al wageb" (Duty), in addition to two film scripts, "Nights of Ramadan" and "Dumb Passion" In 1953, both Mr. and Mrs. Abiad embraced Islam.

Mrs. Abiad was granted Critics' Award of Pioneering in Acting. She was also awarded " the Nile Cinema Prize " by the State.

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