She defended her right to think.. She was dragged into the streets of Alexandria

"Hypatia"... an icon that is remembered on International Women's Day

  • Hypatia is ahead of its time in thinking.

    archival

picture

Every year, on the occasion of International Women's Day, the memory of the thinker, philosopher and mathematician Hypatia, who defended her right to think during the Roman era, was attacked, stripped naked, dragged in the streets of Alexandria and burned, in the late fourth century AD, the celebration took the form of Writing about and celebrating her at the local Egyptian women’s level, she continues to commemorate the courageous philosopher globally by producing films and creative work.

In 2012, Egypt witnessed the establishment of a popular women’s movement, named after the Alexandrian philosopher (Hypatia Movement), through an initiative announced by the movement’s coordinator at the time, Fatima Al-Sharif, to promote the values ​​of women’s empowerment, and to confront the violations that they are exposed to, after the “girls’ haircut” incident, which was subjected to She had girls from extremist elements at the time, and the initiative worked on several axes, such as legal support for women, psychological support for battered women, and economic empowerment for women, according to Al-Sharif media statements with the launch of the initiative.

Journalist interested in feminist affairs, Marwa Al-Bahili, said that "the name Hypatia was chosen for more than one move in different forms, after the January 25 revolution," which witnessed a wide emergence of the role of women, and this represented a transfer to deal with the biography of this brave woman, from the field of intellectual discussion, to The level of political and social movement, a move that is a real honor for this philosopher, and consideration was given to the transgression that happened against her.

She added that "Hypatia, who was born in 370 AD, and belonged as a mathematician, philosopher, and thinker, to the Library of Alexandria, and then traveled to Italy to study, to return as dean of the Platonic school in 400 AD, according to the Byzantine Encyclopedia (Seuda), was attacked by religious fanatics, who formed Militias armed with sticks and batons, and they tracked her down after one of her seminars, stripping her of her clothes, and dragging her through the streets of Alexandria, until she became a dead body, and they burned her.”

And she added, "It was just coincidence that made the commemoration of International Women's Day come in March, at the same time as her martyrdom, because Women's Day originally came to commemorate the departure of thousands of women in New York in the (bread and roses) demonstrations in 1856, in protest against the poor conditions of women's work. But in my estimation, celebrating Hypatia’s memory at the same time is a confirmation of the other side of the occasion, because if a woman suffers socially and economically, she also suffers at the level of recognition of her right to think and express in some societies, a right that is still denied by extremist groups under different banners. .

It is worth noting that Hypatia’s memory has become in the 21st century the subject of dozens of creative works, including the novel by the international creator Umberto Eco (Badlino), the novel by Charlo Kramer (The Sacred Movement), and a novel bearing the name of the same philosopher by Youssef Zeidan, as it was the subject of the television series (Good Days). ), in which the actress Lisa Codor played, and the international film that caused uproar and mixed accusations (Agora), which was directed by Alejandro Amitabar.

• Hypatia, as a mathematician, philosopher, and thinker, belonged to the Library of Alexandria, studied in Italy, and worked as dean of the Platonic School in 400 AD.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news