“The National Council for Women expressed profound sorrow over the loss of a courageous and persevering Egyptian woman who did not fear bearing arms to defend her beloved homeland, Egypt. She always volunteered in military nursing out of love for her country, serving as an exemplary figure for every Egyptian woman,” the council said about the late officer who died at 97 years old in Cairo earlier Monday.

National Council for Women honoured Ibtisamat Abdallah in 2016 by awarding her the council’s shield and a certificate of appreciation, in recognition of her role during the 1948 Palestine War and her service in the Egyptian army.

The first lieutenant woman in the Egyptian army
 

Ibtisamat Mohamed Abdallah was born in 1927 in Beni Sueif to an Egyptian father, Mohamed Abdallah, a Bakbashi-ranked officer (Major) and an inspector of guards in Assiut Governorate. Her father was from Mit Ghamr in Dakahlia Governorate. Her mother, Fatma Fadl, was Sudanese, the daughter of Sultan Fadl Nour, Sultan of the Wau region in South Sudan.

Abdallah received her education in French elementary schools but did not complete her higher education. However, she did not abandon her dream of volunteer work.

At the age of 20, she decided to join nursing through the Red Crescent after reading an advertisement in Al-Musawwar Magazine calling for 75 female volunteers for the armed forces in medical services in 1947 as part of the military effort in the Palestine war.

After completing her studies at the Red Crescent, Abdallah joined the Egyptian Armed Forces by submitting her application. Fortunately, she was accepted and underwent a personal interview at the Kobry El-Kobba Military Hospital.

She was selected along with only 20 out of 75 applicants after passing rigorous tests. She was awarded the rank of lieutenant.

Due to the alphabetical order of names, her name was first on the list, making her the first woman to hold the rank of lieutenant in the Egyptian army.

She was also the first woman to receive the Medal of Merit from the last King of Egypt, Farouk I, who awarded her his gold watch — still adorning her wrist until the last day of her life — in recognition of her honorable role in nursing the wounded of the 1948 war in the field hospital set up inside a house in Gaza City.