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Kubra Noorzai (1932–1986) was an Afghan politician. She was the first woman to become a government minister in the country,[1] serving as Minister of Public Health between 1965 and 1969.
Kubra Noorzai | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Public Health | |
| In office 1965–1969 | |
| Member of the Loya Jirga | |
| In office 1977 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1932 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 1986 Kabul, Afghanistan |
Noorzai was born in Kabul, one of nine children. She was educated at the Lycée Malalaï, before graduating from the College of Science at Kabul University.[2][3] Noorzai subsequently returned to Lycée Malalaï, becoming its headteacher and later headed the Women's Faculty at Kabul University.[3] In 1958 she moved to France, where she studied at the University of Paris for a year.[2][3]
She worked as a school inspector for girls schools,[4] and served as director of the Feminine Charitable Institute in Kabul.[5] She also became Dean of the College of Home Economics.[6]
One of the leading feminists in Afghanistan, Noorzai was one of the first women to stop wearing a veil in public, after Queen Humaira Begum had set the example by appearing without hers in 1959.[4] She was an Afghan delegate at UNESCO and the International Women's Congress meeting in Dublin.[2] In 1964 King Mohammed Zahir Shah appointed her to an advisory committee that reviewed the draft 1964 constitution,[7] which granted women the right to vote and stand for election.
Following the August–September 1965 elections, she was appointed Minister of Public Health by Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal on 1 December 1965,[8] becoming the first women minister in Afghanistan. She remained in office until 1969.[9]
As director of the Women's Institute, she was elected to the Loya Jirga in 1977 during the rule of President Mohammed Daoud Khan.[10]
Never married, she died at her home in the Kārte Seh neighbourhood of Kabul in 1986.[3]
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