Miss Angele Abboud — The First Woman to Own a Publishing House

When woman challenges man at his own work... and succeeds!

The motto of the Ahliah Institution

"I do not want my house to be walled in on every side, nor do I want my windows to be shut. I want the cultures of all nations to blow upon my house with all possible freedom, but I refuse to let any one of them uproot me from my feet. My creed is not a closed mind; in it there is room for the least of God's creatures, but it stands proof against overweening pride — the pride of race, or religion, or color."

"Gandhi"

How beautiful it is for a person to live his life in defiance!
Defying brute nature, defying ignorance and poverty and disease, defying fate and destiny, defying the rugged paths of life!
And my friend Angele Abboud... lives her working life in defiance — defying men: she defies that sweat which pours from their brows, and pours forth greater quantities of it herself... she defies the hours of work they spend behind their desks, inquiring, digging, researching — and she herself spends more hours... she defies their swift movement among the sites of their work... and she moves with a nimbler lightness... she defies their simple clothes, far removed from artifice and expense... and wears clothes simpler still!
She plunged into that field of business which until a very short time ago remained — and but for her would still remain — the preserve of men alone... the field of publishing... She was the first girl to storm that world of man's, founding an establishment for printing and publishing on which she bestowed the name: the Ahliah Institution. And I remember that I once wrote in one of the magazines, in the course of reviewing the book 'Pavilion of Women' by Pearl Buck, which

the Ahliah Institution had brought out, and which the woman of letters Samira Azzam had translated... I wrote: And the splendid thing about the matter is that the novel's author is a lady, its translator a lady, and its publisher a lady... So welcome to the age of women!

I said to her... to the Miss who publishes:

— Why did you give your house the name 'the Ahliah Institution'?

— There are many reasons for that; among them, that my family shared with me in founding this house... they contributed financially, at the least... And perhaps one of the reasons for this name, too, is that I gave it in emulation of the Ahliah National College for girls, where I passed the happiest days of my life, for it was there I received my secondary schooling...

— And how did this idea occur to you... the idea of founding a publishing house?

— I shall not claim that I had been dreaming of realizing this idea since childhood... I used to dream, for instance, of bringing out a magazine or a newspaper, and the idea of founding a publishing house would never have crossed my mind... But the idea forced itself upon my thinking a few years ago... when I began to observe those publications and books which our publishing houses bring out — especially the story-books among them, in which cheap love is so often a basic ingredient, since those who run these houses believe that this helps greatly in circulating them commercially. Their concern is to lay hands on the largest quantity of money; they give no thought thereby to the young and their inner life, or to the effect of reading in polishing their tastes, guiding them, and forming their character... So there was nothing for it but that I bend myself to studying this side of things with precision and scrutiny, in the hope of straightening what is crooked and filling the void...

— And have you managed to do so?

— In this bold project of mine I am still crawling... I have not yet managed to reach the first rung of the ladder I intend to climb... What I have done so far is mere attempts.

— And what are these attempts you have made so far?..

— A series of stories by the most famous storytellers of the world, known for their humane bent, their fine analysis, and their true understanding of the art of the story — the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre, Stefan Zweig, Vivian Connell, Georges Duhamel, Rabindranath Tagore, Somerset Maugham, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus, Françoise Sagan, Lillian Roth, and others among the world's writers... Twelve books of this series have appeared so far...

— Do you choose these books for translation yourself?...

— Naturally I am not alone in choosing them... After I have read several books myself, I entrust them to a group of men and women of letters to give their opinion... Nor do I stop at that; I consult the public of readers as well... Often certain readers send me the names of books they wish translated into Arabic... and I do not hesitate to satisfy their wish...

— Is there a committee of translators at the house?...

— That committee consists, so far, of literary women and men who are friends of the Institution... And I have met so far — truth be told — with a great deal of support and encouragement from all my friends and acquaintances...

— And has the Institution's work been confined to this story series alone?

— Of course not... there is also the political series, the arts series, and the poetry series.

— On whom do you rely to carry out your printing projects?.. I mean, have you assistants in the work?

— Have you not heard that joke they tell about the Institution?.. One of the newspapers once wrote of the Institution: its contributing members consist of the general director, Angele Abboud; her assistant, Angele Abboud; the committee for reviewing books, which consists of Angele Abboud; and certain attachés of the working office, who consist of Angele as well... So you see — I do all the Institution's work alone!

And I left the Ahliah Institution for Printing and Publishing full of esteem for the struggle of the defiant woman... believing in her battle in life... certain of her victory in the near future!