Lebedeva (Barshcheva) O.S.: On the Emancipation of the Muslim Woman

Title

Ob emansipatsii musul’manskoi zhenshchiny, Sankt-Peterburg 1900

On the Emancipation of the Muslim Woman

Keywords

Summary

In this pamphlet, Lebedeva articulates her views on the necessity of emancipation for Muslim women, widening the scope of a speech she gave at the 12^th Congress of Orientalists (Rome, 1899). She states that the belief that women should be excluded from public life, shared by fanatical Muslims and Europeans unfamiliar with Islam, is actually contrary to the true teachings of Quran and, as such, it should be eradicated. To make her point, Lebedeva provides many historical examples (from different countries and regions of the world), which show how in the past Muslim women were much more prominent and free in society, stressing that their present condition is the result of the distortions of theologians. According to her, the Muslim woman “would have remained a slave forever if European influence had not come to her rescue”. A key role is played by French school for women established, for instance, in Algiers and Tunis; after attending them, Muslim girls become “so accustomed to the need of civilisation that when they marry they demand from their fiancés decent furniture, spacious rooms with windows giving sunshine and air […] and a more cheerful-looking flat. They even demand to rent flats in European houses. […] They refuse to wear a veil over their faces, saying that it is a barbaric custom, not required by religion at all, and that there are several Muslim tribes that have never accepted this custom, which was introduced by a false interpretation […]”. Lebedeva continues her treaty by citing present-day Muslim women writers and their accomplishments, as well as the role played by new progressive periodicals in promoting women’s emancipation. The significance of Orientalist societies is also recognized.

Bio

Olga Lebedeva (née Barshcheva) was a Russian Orientalist, writer and translator, often using pseudonyms like Madame Gülnar, Olga de Lebedeff, Gülnar Lebedeva. She was the founder of the Society of Oriental Studies in Saint Petersburg (1890). Though not much is known of her early life, she was definitely born in a noble family and spent much of her childhood in the Kazan region, where she learned Tatar from the workers of her family’s estate. She studied at Kazan University and learned Turkish, Arabic and Persian from Kaium Nasyri, a famous Tatar educator. She married twice, the last time with Aleksandr Lebedev, Active State Councilor and Mayor of Kazan, and had six children. She travelled extensively throughout Europe, attending many Orientalist congresses, and spent several winters in Istanbul, where she worked with Ahmet Mithat to popularise Russian literature in Turkey. To this extent, she translated herself works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoi and others. On the Emancipation of the Muslim Woman was also published in French (1906) and Turkish (1909). Her last registered address dates back to 1913, after which traces of her are lost.

Sources

A. Karimullin, O.S. Lebedeva – Gul’nar khanum, “Narody Azii i Afriki”, 1977, 3, p. 146-152;

C. Vaughn Findley, An Ottoman Occidentalist in Europe: Ahmed Midhat Meets Madame Gülnar, “American Historical Review”, 1998 (103), 1, p. 15-49;

T. Olcay, Olga Lebedeva (Madame Gülnar): A Russian Orientalist and Translator Enchants the Ottomans, “Slovo”, 2017 (29), 2, p. 40-71.

A.F.