Anahita Ratebzad (Persian/Pashto: آناهیتا راتبزاد; November 1931 – 7 September 2014) was an Afghan socialist and Marxist-Leninist politician and a member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) (belonging to the Parcham faction) and vice-president of the Revolutionary Council under the leadership of Babrak Karmal.

She was also part of the first ever Afghan-women delegation representing the Kingdom of Afghanistan on international stage at the Asian Women's Conference in Ceylon in 1957.

As veiling became optional [3] during the tenure of Daud Khan as prime minister, Ratebzad led a group of female nurses in 1957 to Kabul's Aliabad Hospital to attend male patients.

[5] She became involved in leftist politics and, along with Khadija Ahrari, Masuma Esmati Wardak, and Roqia Abubakr, was one of the first four women elected to Afghan parliament in 1965,[6] winning the Second District Kabul City seat.

[7] In 1965 Ratebzad helped found the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) becoming part of the Parcham faction.

[9] In the days leading to the Saur Revolution/ Coup d'état on 28–29 April 1978, Ratebzad was detained under house arrest in her apartment in Makroyan, while Karmal Ghulam Dastagir Panjsheri, Nur Muhammad Taraki and Saleh Mohammad Zeary were imprisoned and other PDPA prominent members (Khalq and Parcham) had gone underground.

As the Khalq wing of PDPA seized power and Taraki became president, she was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs.

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and power seizure by the Parcham wing, she was appointed as Minister of Education (1980–1981) and became permanent member of the PDPA's Politburo.

In this position she had the responsibility of overseeing several Ministries, including Higher and Vocational Education, Information and Cultural, and Public Health.

From 27 December 1980 she was the Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council[11] After Karmal was replaced by Mohammad Najibullah in 1986, who aimed at distancing himself from his leftist past and Marxist rhetoric upon Soviet advice,[12] Ratebzad was discharged of her posts and withdrew from the Politburo.