Letters and News

◆ The accomplished woman of letters Afaf Baydun has written a profound and engaging study of the two great poets Dante and al-Ma'arri. The Woman's Voice has decided to publish it in a special supplement to this issue and to present it as a gift to its subscribers. This study, if it proves anything, proves the literary talent enjoyed by one of the daughters of the rising generation, at whose hands we hope to see strengthened the valuable contribution the Arab woman makes in the field of mind and spirit.

◆ The Lebanese Women's League held a general meeting on June 7 of this month at the building of Ahliah National College, to which it invited a number of ladies, members of the League and others.

After the session was opened with the playing of the Lebanese anthem, the present situation was discussed. Then the following resolutions were adopted:
1 — The formation of a committee of members of the Lebanese Women's League to join the political committee of the Lebanese Women's Union, the two committees to be in contact with the opposition committee of the candidates and the committee of election appeals, and with other men of law, in order to study what has happened and find a solution for it.
2 — That the Lebanese Women's League repeat the protests submitted by the Women's Union and a number of Lebanese women to His Excellency the President of the Republic; and that the League pursue its demands to the end. Among the most important of these demands are the amendment of the Lebanese constitution, the granting to woman of her full political rights — including her right to elect and to be elected — and freedom of the press within the bounds of the law.

◆ We have received numerous replies to the "Child Photo Contest" published in a past issue of The Woman's Voice. We shall publish the best of them in the next issue.

◆ The association of women and men graduates of the Lebanese High School in Choueifat held a memorial gathering for the founder of the school and its virtuous president, Emilia Trad, at the school club on Sunday afternoon, June 15, 1947. A select company of literary women and men spoke at it, enumerating the praiseworthy traits and lofty virtues by which the departed lady was distinguished.

◆ At the Orthodox Club in Acre a women's body has been formed whose aim is to provide a place where women may gather once a week. The club has donated its premises to them every Wednesday afternoon, where most of the ladies and young ladies of the city gather to hear lectures, or for recreation and amusement, etc.

◆ Miss Najla Nasser Issa delivered a lecture entitled "The Woman's Voice" last Sunday, June 11, 1947, in the hall of the Arab League Club; a large gathering of women listeners attended it.

◆ The cultural committee of the Women's Social Solidarity Association is still continuing its efforts in search of premises of its own, and has begun purchasing quantities of useful literary books in order to found a special library for ladies.

◆ The American College for Girls in Beirut held, on the fourth and fifth of June, an exhibition of the artistic handiwork produced by the young women of the College under the supervision of the fine arts teacher Mrs. al-Bakri. What draws the eye in this exhibition is that it aims at the use of art to adorn the home and to arrange a woman's belongings. Alongside the painted pictures it gathered embroidered pieces, beautiful handbags, and photograph albums whose covers were adorned with designs, Eastern and otherwise, of the utmost harmony of parts and beauty of workmanship.

◆ There arrived in Beirut, by air, the virtuous Mrs. Zahiya, wife of the great industrialist Mr. Salim Rizk, founder of the Ghandi shoe works in the capital of Brazil, accompanied by her bright son Mr. Michel Rizk, to spend the summer season in the countryside of Lebanon. A hearty welcome to them.

◆ Mrs. Heneni Tarcha, president of the Lebanese Women's League and Responsible Director of this magazine, has received a gracious letter from the notable Mr. Badawi Abi Lahoud, one of the pillars of the Lebanese colony in Caracas, in which he expresses, in his own name and on behalf of the colony, the esteem in which they hold the magazine The Woman's Voice. The Woman's Voice takes pride in this esteem of theirs and thanks them for their noble sentiments.

◆ The general managing editor has received a letter from our compatriot in Argentina, the great man of letters Mr. Malatios Khoury, in which he says: "Despite the many responsibilities upon my shoulders — commercial, literary, journalistic, and social — and the lectures I deliver on the great radio stations of this country and the neighboring republics about our history

and our renaissance, I can set aside for your fine magazine whatever it needs of news and information about our community, and about Argentina or other countries when I travel to them, and especially about woman in South America..." He goes on to say: "Last year I translated into our language the book by the Cuban poetess Mary Morandeyra about her husband, that genius of oratory, the late Habib Estefano. And I inform you that the colony in Chile has decided to print my Arabic book 'To Glory, O Sons of Light,' the introduction to which the late Emir Shakib Arslan wrote in his own hand; I shall send you a copy in due course..."

We take pride in the lofty station our brilliant compatriot Mr. Malatios occupies in the lands of exile, and in the sincere efforts he expends in the field of both Arabic and Argentine letters, and we thank him for volunteering to supply the readers of The Woman's Voice with everything it concerns them to know of the affairs of the colony in South America, and especially of the Lebanese woman.

♦ If forgery accompanied the Lebanese election operations of May 25, 1947, it made an exception of North Lebanon, where our friend the great notable Mr. Michel Mufarrij won, by the confidence of his fellow citizens, a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. We congratulate him on this confidence, which he has gained by merit and desert.

♦ The bright Miss Farida Ratib al-Qadi has passed both the Lebanese and the French Certificat examinations with distinction. We congratulate her and wish her a brilliant future.

♦ The National College in Choueifat held its annual ceremony for the distribution of diplomas on Friday afternoon, June 20, 1947. We wish this college, which has been laboring diligently for half a century and more in the field of national education, every success and prosperity.

♦ In Tripoli, on Sunday, June 8 last, the marriage contract was celebrated of the worthy man of letters Mr. Adel Salman to the well-bred Miss Wisam, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Salim Hamadeh. We wish the two worthy newlyweds a happy life.