Salma (Salima) Abi Rashed: The first woman lawyer

Salma (Salima) Abi Rashed was the first woman lawyer who proved herself in the courts of the Ba’abda district in Lebanon. She was also a pioneering journalist, among many others, in the country. In 1911, she managed her brother’s political daily newspaper, al-Nasir (The Supporter)(1)Naguib al-Ba’ney, صحافيات لبنانيات رائدات واديبات مبدعات, Beirut, Nofal, 2007, p. 26..  In 1914, she founded Fatat Lobnan (The Woman of Lebanon), a monthly scientific and literary magazine with a focus on women(2) Naguib al-Ba’ney, صحافيات لبنانيات رائدات واديبات مبدعات, Beirut, Nofal, 2007, p. 19-20. . The magazine emphasized women’s equal right to work in all the fields that men had historically occupied. Although the magazine was discontinued not long after its initial publication (it was issued for around eight months in the year 1914), it remained one of the first women’s magazines in Lebanon, and was an example to follow in neighbouring cities at the time, including Damascus, which saw the publication of al-Arous, the Bride (continued its issuance in 1914).