Salma Sayegh

[2]` Sayegh entered the field of journalism at the age of eighteen under the name Salwa Mouawen, and started by writing articles against the Ottomans and Mandate agents.

[3] During World War I, Sayegh, together with Henri Misk, took over a hospice in Ghazir that had originally been built by the Ottoman politician Djemal Pasha.

She visited Egypt, Turkey, France, England and eventually moved to Brazil in search of her brother, and remained there for eight years until the start of the World War II.

During this time, she became a member of the Andalusian League, a Lebanese literary circle in São Paulo that supported the spread of Arabic literature.

[5] Its presidency was assigned to Labiba Thabit, and among the founding members were Khartum and Ibtihaj Qaddura, Najla Kfoury, Hunayneh Tarsha, Baida, Shuqayr, and Anbara Salam Khalidi.

They began by visiting shops that stocked national products, then sent delegations to Syrian factories to encourage them and to suggest ways for improvement and quality control, calling for greater artistry and taste in design and color.

[2] In her early career, Sayegh published literature critical of the Ottoman Empire under the pen name Salwa Mouawen.

Away from the city and its turbulence, I fled to the hilltops of Harissa where stands the mother of the Nazarene with open arms, as if repeating the call of her son: come to me, all ye that are tired and I shall give you rest.” [10] According to Rose Ghurayib, Sayegh’s writings were deeply emotional, “conscious of human suffering, strongly moved by the sight of misery”, and critical of children and women abuse and all sorts of social injustices.