Anīs al-Jalīs
Anis al-Jalis (Arabic: أنيس الجليس, meaning “the intimate companion”) was launched by Princess Aliksandrā Khūrī Avyirīnū (ألكسندرا الخوري افيرينوه) on January 31, 1898 in Alexandria, and continued for ten years (some sources mention only 7 years). After noticing the lack of publication for women in the Middle East, Avyirinu decided to start this monthly journal. Supporting Egyptian and Arab women's advancement in education and family matters, the articles mostly covered topics on parenting, home economics, fashion, interior decoration, furniture and beauty, using a beautiful and refined language. Anis al-Jalis was also the first women's magazine to publish advertisements. Almost a third of the journal was dedicated to advertising. Avyirinu was aware of the importance of using advertising to support her publication. In 1903, she published an article on the benefits that merchants, readers and publishers could develop from printed publicity, she even wrote about the benefits of advertising as a means of promoting not only the exchange of goods, but the exchange of ideas. In the early issues, Anis Al-Jalis targeted bourgeois women, but at a later stage, it addressed women from various backgrounds, with particular focus on peasant women. It invited women to share their thoughts through articles and letters. Avyirinu stressed the link between home management and national progress. Though some contributors were women, most were men. One of the contributors was the pioneer journalist Labībah Mādī Hāshim لبيبة ماضي هاشم), )who a few years later established her own magazine “Fatāt al-Sharq” (فتاة الشرق). Anis al-Jalis was forced to cease due to losses incurred after the 1907 recession.
Front page and the 2 editorials of the first issue of Anis al-Jalis
Publication Date: 1898-1908
Place: Alexandria, Egypt
Frequency: Monthly
Available as Microfilm at AUB Libraries
Call number: Mic-NA:0218
Library has: 1898: January – 1900: January.
Sources
- Fruma Zachs (2014). "Cross-Glocalization: Syrian Women Immigrants and the Founding of Women's Magazines in Egypt". Middle Eastern Studies. 50 (3): 353–369. doi:10.1080/00263206.2013.863757.
- البعيني، نجيب. صحافيات لبنانيات رائدات وأديبات مبدعات. بيروت : نوفل، 2007.
- داغر، يوسف أسعد. قاموس الصحافة اللبنانية، 1858-1974. بيروت: منشورات الجامعة اللبنانية، 1975.