Inji Aflatun

(1924 - 1989)

Born into an upper-class family, Inji Aflatun took up painting at an early age, later studying art at the University of Cairo. In 1945 she cofounded the League of University and Institutes’ Young Women and over the next four years published several political pamphlets, including the anti-imperialist Eighty Million Women with Us. Imprisoned following a roundup of communists in 1959, Aflatun continued to paint, capturing harsh scenes of prison life. After her release in 1963, she devoted most of her time to painting.