The Wife of His Excellency al-Oueini Speaks About Her Husband

... The magazine "The Woman's Voice" is happy to present to its readers in Lebanon and the Arab countries this interview, graciously granted by Mrs. Shafiqa al-Oueini, wife of His Excellency Hussein Bey al-Oueini, Lebanon's Minister of Finance, in which she spoke to us about His Excellency her husband...

... A modern European drawing room, with one Eastern touch to which the eye is drawn at first glance... two large vases, masterpieces of Chinese art, each standing apart in a corner, as though it preferred seclusion.

... Everything in the drawing room is elegant and beautiful; if it points to anything, it points to the sound taste that breathes in the mistress of the house.

The eye is caught by the vessels of flowers in the various corners, with the light trained upon them so that they appear at their very loveliest...

And while I am immersed in complete contentment, my ear catches footsteps advancing slowly and with a touch of coquetry. Mrs. Shafiqa al-Oueini is feeling indisposed, and with the utmost graciousness she apologizes for being a few minutes late...

— I am sorry to trouble you; it is only my wish to hear you speak of His Excellency your husband — of his opinion on the education of girls first, if you please.

— My husband is one of the conservative men. He does not deny a girl her attendance at the halls of learning, but he inclines toward there being a limit to the degree of her education. In his view the baccalaureate should be the utmost limit of a girl's education, for in it there is enough to guide her and prepare her as a mother and housewife. As for her taking the road of medicine or the law, this is what he holds against her — or rather, what he does not approve for her, because she would then have taken a road that is not her own... And this is my opinion as well.

— So you fault a girl for going out to the universities and for higher specialization! And His Excellency must surely have his opinion on the Syrian woman's exercise of her political right. Would you kindly acquaint us with it?

— With all pleasure. I shall not hide from you that my husband is not among the champions of woman where the exercise of her political right is concerned. He holds that it is more fitting for her to keep to her house, to preserve her femininity, and not to expose herself to the atmosphere that elections create — that odious atmosphere which the men themselves, accustomed to it though they are, often disdain to face... We do not deny that political rights are lawful rights for woman as for man; only, to safeguard woman's precious dignity, he prefers that there first be prepared for her a clean electoral atmosphere befitting her.

— And will my lady tell me of His Excellency as a husband? And are you content with your life?

Here Mrs. Shafiqa sighs, and there shows in her eyes, before it flows out upon her lips, the same answer I have heard from the wives of ministers, until she says:

— How many things he longs to take up and enjoy, and time does not permit him!... Work... work... from early morning until evening! And often the men with business to settle come early in the morning, before we have waked from sleep! You cannot imagine, my dear, how "fed up" I am with my life! Before my husband became a minister, he used to telephone me to say he would be ten minutes late. And our life was orderly in the extreme. But now days may pass without our sitting together at table, or exchanging two words at our ease...

— And speaking of food, does His Excellency have particular demands where food is concerned?

— As to food, he prefers no one thing over another, but the manner of presenting the food matters greatly to him. He likes variety in the "appetizers" more than variety in the dishes themselves... And he wants everything clean and orderly, and if it is not so, he flares up in anger! He is of difficult temper and quick to anger, but this anger of his is "like milk boiling over" — it soon subsides...

— And what do you find in His Excellency as a father?

— He is intensely affectionate, molded out of tenderness — not toward his daughter alone, but toward all people. Often he says to me:
"Thank God I am not a doctor, or I would have stayed at the sick man's bedside until he was well on the way to recovery!"

— And what is His Excellency's view of unveiling? Does he approve it?

— In times past he was strongly opposed; but now he seems more pliant than before!

— And does this mean that "The Woman's Voice" will be favored with a picture of your ladyship, to appear beside His Excellency's picture with this interview?

— ???!

In the coming issue:

The wife of His Excellency Dr. Abillama.
The wife of His Excellency Bahij Takieddine.