Alifa Rifaat

Fatimah Rifaat, better known by her pen name Alifa Rifaat, was an Egyptian author whose controversial short stories are renowned for their depictions of the dynamics of female sexuality, relationships, and loss in rural Egyptian culture. While taking on such controversial subjects, Fatimah Rifaat's protagonists remained religiously faithful with passive feelings towards their fate. Her stories did not attempt to undermine the patriarchal system; rather they were used to depict the problems inherent in a patriarchal society when men do not adhere to their religious teachings that advocate for the kind treatment of women. Fatimah Rifaat used the pseudonym Alifa to prevent embarrassment on the part of her family due to the themes of her stories and her writing career.

5 June 1930

Born on the same birth day (5 June): Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee • Anke Behmer • David Hare (playwright) • Jeremy Abbott • Joe Clark • Richard Scarry • Spalding Gray

Born in the same month (June 1930): Aranka Siegal • Claude Chabrol • Donald Byrne • Ignatius Peter VIII Abdalahad • Innes Ireland • Jim Burke (cricketer) • Marion Zimmer Bradley • Mike McCormack (American football) • Robert Evans • Vilmos Zsigmond • William C. Campbell (scientist)