Samira Khashoggi

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Samira Khashoggi
Born1935
DiedMarch 1986 (aged 50–51)
NationalitySaudi Arabian
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1956)​
ChildrenDodi Fayed
Parent(s)Muhammad Khashoggi (father)
RelativesAdnan Khashoggi (brother)
Soheir Khashoggi (sister)
Nabila Khashoggi (niece)
Jamal Khashoggi (nephew)
Emad Khashoggi (nephew)

Samira Khashoggi (Arabic: سميرة خاشقجي‎, 1935 – March 1986) was a Saudi Arabian progressive author, as well as the owner and editor-in-chief of Al Sharkiah magazine. She was the sister of Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi. She was the first wife of Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed and the mother of filmmaker Dodi Fayed. Her family surname, Khashoggi, means "spoon maker" (Kaşıkçı) in the Turkish language.[1] She died of a heart attack in 1986 at the age of 51.[2]

Early life and education[]

Her father Muhammad Khashoggi was a medical doctor of Turkish descent[3] who was King Abdulaziz Al Saud's personal doctor.[4] She was educated in Egypt.[5]

Career[]

Samira Khashoggi wrote under the pseudonym Samirah ‘Daughter of the Arabian Peninsula’. Her books include Wadda’t Amali (Farewell to my Dreams, 1958), Thekrayāt Dām’ah’ (Tearful Memories, 1963), ‘Wara’ Aldabab’ (Beyond the Cloud, 1971), Qatrat Min ad-Dumu’(Teardrops, 1979) and ‘Barīq Aynaik’ (The Sparkle of Your Eyes). Since 1972, Al Sharkiah has been the leading monthly pan-Arab women’s magazine.

In 1962 Samira Khashoggi began to head a women’s welfare association, Al Nahda, which was based in Riyadh and was the first organization targeted women in Saudi Arabia.[5] She was one of the Saudi women who supported the education of girls.[5]

Personal life[]

She met Mohamed Al Fayed on the beach in Alexandria and they married in 1954.[6] The marriage lasted two years, and produced one child, Dodi Fayed.[5] Samira separated from Mohamed Al Fayed just months after Dodi's birth and returned to Saudi Arabia.[5] She then married Saudi Ambassador Anas Yassin and had her second child, Jumana Yassin. Samira was the aunt of actress and producer Nabila Khashoggi and of political journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Her son Dodi was reportedly devoted to her, and would telephone her almost every day up to her death. Dodi once told a friend: "If it meant giving up everything I have—cars, wealth, and women—I would do it to bring my mother back."[7] Her son was dating the late Diana, Princess of Wales, when they both died in a traffic collision in Paris on 31 August 1997.

References[]

  1. ^ Ronald Kessler (1987), Khashoggi: the rise and fall of the world's richest man, Corgi, p. 41, ISBN 978-0552130608
  2. ^ Ajish P. Joy (22 December 2018). All in the family. The Week. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Michelle avoids Khashoggi and Thatcher in Marbella". The First Post. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  4. ^ "About the Bin Laden family". PBS. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Nora Derbal (2020). "Humanitarian Service in the Name of Social Development: The Historic Origins of Women's Welfare Associations in Saudi Arabia". In E. Möller; J. Paulmann; K. Stornig (eds.). Gendering Global Humanitarianism in the Twentieth Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp. 167–192. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44630-7_7. ISBN 978-3-030-44629-1.
  6. ^ Sally Smith (December 1997). "Dodi's Life in the Fast Lane". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. ^ Graham Brough (12 August 1997). "Dodi; His life story: His mother gave him his sensitive side..losing her was so terrible". The Mirror (London, England) – via Free Online Library.
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