Saniya M. Habboub (first name is also seen as Saniyeh, Sania, or Saniyya) (; 1901 — September 1983) was a Lebanese medical doctor. She was the first Lebanese woman to study medicine abroad and to graduate from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she earned her medical degree in 1931. Later she worked with the Lebanese Red Cross.
Early life Habboub was born in Beirut, to a Muslim family, the daughter of Moustafa Habboub, a Lebanese leather merchant, and his wife Adla al-Jazairy. Her mother was illiterate, but admired educated women, and insisted on Saniya's schooling as a priority.F. Najia, "When the Lebanese Woman Shed the Veil" Mid-East Posts/Voices of the Middle East (March 13, 2011). Saniya Habboub attended the American Junior College for Women and the American University of Beirut (AUB). Because women were not admitted to AUB's medical program at the time, she decided to pursue a medical degree in the United States instead, the first Lebanese woman to do so."Dr. Saniyya Habboub: Fifty Years of Devoted Medical Service" Al-Raida (November 1, 1982): 2."Medical Co-eds from Far-Away Lands" (January 1, 1929), newspaper clipping, Legacy Center, Drexel University College of Medicine. "Her hair is bobbed", marveled one American newspaper writer, "and in every way she has adopted occidental ways"."Breaks Traditions" Journal News (January 10, 1928): 1. via Newspapers.com
Habboub finished medical school at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1931,"Foreign Girls Graduate" (June 11, 1931), newspaper clipping, Legacy Center, Drexel University College of Medicine. the school's only Arab graduate.Ghassan Ghosn, "'We Dared to Venture'" Aramco World (November/December 1995). She stayed in the United States into 1932, for further training as an internWomecho: the 1932 yearbook of the Hospital of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (1932): 13. in gynecology and obstetrics. She endowed a scholarship at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in gratitude for the education she received there.
Career Habboub returned to Lebanon in 1932, and opened a small clinic with free services for women who could not afford her fee;Nicole Khoury, CWSHRC.org (2015). she was the first woman physician trained abroad to open a practice in Beirut. Later, she worked with the Lebanese Red Cross."Achievements of LAU Women Graduates Throughout History" LAU Magazine & Alumni Bulletin (Winter 2011): 30. She worked with the Muslim Orphans' Home and the Young Women's Muslim Association, and received a "Health Medal of Merit" in 1982 from the Lebanese government to mark her fiftieth year as a medical doctor.W. Stephan, "Dr. Saniyya Habboub: Death of a Pioneer" Al-Raida (November 1983): 4.
Personal life Habboub married Muhammad al-Naqqash, a journalist. They had two daughters.Hosn Abboud, "Who is She?" AMEWS E-Bulletin (October 2014): 8. She died in 1983, aged 82 years. There is a Sania Habboub Street in the Ramlet al-Baida section of Beirut, named in her memory.
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