Kulthum Odeh

Kulthum Odeh (also known as Klavdia Ode-Vasilieva; 2 April 1892 – 24 April 1965) was a Palestinian writer, translator, and researcher. She is considered to have been one of the most important Soviet scholars of Arabic, and possibly the first Arab woman to work as a professor in any country.

Personal life

Kulthum Odeh was born on 2 April 1892 in Nazareth, the fifth daughter of Nasr Odeh. The family were Arab Orthodox Christians. Of her early life, Odeh later wrote:

My arrival to this world was met with tears, for everyone knows how Arabs like ourselves feel when we are told about the birth of a female, especially if this unfortunate girl happens to be the fifth of her sisters, and the family has not been blessed by a boy. Such feelings of hatred accompanied me since an early age.

In 1913, Odeh met Russian doctor Ivan Vasiliev. Against the wishes of her parents, the couple were married in Jerusalem. The following year, they travelled to Russia. During World War I, Odeh worked as a nurse in Serbia and Montenegro, and then moved with her husband to Ukraine.

Ivan Vasiliev died in 1919, survived by Odeh and their three daughters: Larissa, Valeria, and Ludmilla.

Education

Although opposed by her mother, Odeh's father sent her to a school run by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, where she excelled. As top of her class, Odeh received a scholarship to complete her education at the Russian Female Teachers' Training College in Beit Jala, where she studied from 1900 to 1908. Among her teachers was Palestinian poet Khalil al-Sakakini, who taught Arabic.

Returning to Nazareth, Odeh began teaching at schools operated by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, and to publish articles in magazines including al-Nafa'is al-‘asriyya in Haifa, al-Hilal in Cairo, and al-Hasnaa in Beirut.

In Ukraine, following the death of her husband in 1919, Odeh became a regional organizer for the Department for Work among Women of the Communist Party. In 1924, she moved to Leningrad, where she was reacquainted with Russian orientalist Ignaty Krachkovsky, who she had met while at school in Nazareth. Krachkovsky arranged for her to attend Leningrad University, from which she earned a PhD in Arabic dialects (1928). Odeh ultimately attained the title of professor: possibly the first Arab woman to do so.

Academic career

In 1926, Odeh was granted Soviet citizenship, remaining with her daughters who were Soviet citizens by birth. In 1928, she visited Palestine, conducting ethnographic research on Palestinian folk customs. Exploring traditions surrounding birth, and peasant rituals during times of drought, Odeh demonstrated an interest in the role of Palestinian women, and condemned attitudes towards them. In one article, Odeh expressed disappointment that women in Palestine were less politically engaged than those in Syria and Egypt.

Odeh lectured in the University of Leningrad's Faculty of Oriental Languages, and was a member of the Arabic Department of the Institute of Philosophy, the Arts and History. She later moved from Leningrad to Moscow, where she worked at the Orientalism Institute and lectured at the Institute for International Relations and the Higher Diplomatic School. Odeh was the first woman member of the Society of Soviet Cultural Relations with the Arab countries.

Translation

Believing in the role of literature in fostering understanding between individuals and nations, Odeh began to translate Soviet literature into Arabic, and later Arabic literature into Russian. In addition, she published many articles and short stories in the Russian press.

Honors

Aged 70, Kulthum Odeh was awarded the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Friendship Among Nations by the Soviet authorities, recognising her contribution to improving international relations.

Odeh died on 24 April 1965, and buried near Moscow. In 1990, she was posthumously awarded the Jerusalem Medal for Culture, Arts and Literature.