Birth: NULL/NULL/1892 Death:NULL/NULL/1962
Born in Nazareth in 1892; was educated in Russian schools in Nazareth and Beit Jala; worked as a school teacher; married a Russian doctor and moved to Russia, where she became known as ‘Awda Vasiliva’; worked in farming in Russia and continued her education majoring in Arabic Language and Literature; earned the title of Professor in 1928 for her thesis about local Arabic accents; was a specialist on Palestinian accents and Arabic customs based on a sociological perspective and became a prime reference for Soviet orientalists; was awarded the Soviet medal of ‘Friendship of Peoples’ as well as the Jerusalem Prize by the PLO; was offered a position at the Education Dept. in Jerusalem by Mufti Amin Al-Husseini while on a visit to Palestine in 1928, but refused due to her reservations towards the British Mandate; wrote about her experience of visiting Jaffa in 1928; in 1948, addressed a letter to Soviet ruler Stalin opposing the USSR’s support of the State of Israel, leading to her arrest; was released upon the interference of various intellectuals; published a number of writings on Arabic literature and translated some works between Russian and Arabic; died in 1962 and was buried in Moscow.
