>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, D.C.
[ Silence ]
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Laila
Enayat-Seraj, a person from my past,
a, a wonderful woman
that I met many years ago
on the campus at American
University.
She, she was the daughter of the
Ambassador of Afghanistan in Cairo,
and she came to the
American University
in Cairo to study economics.
And we all thought she was the,
the most elegant lady on campus.
And she is, she was and she
is a very accomplished woman.
And Leila, tell us a little bit.
Where were you born?
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
I was born in Kabul.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Yes.
And --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: And
then I finished my studies
in the Malalai High School
for Girls, and then I went
with my father on diplomatic
missions, and then it brought me
to Cairo where I went to
the American University
where I had the pleasure to meet
you and my other classmates.
And from Cairo I went
to America to continue.
Since my father went
back to Afghanistan,
I went there to continue my
studies, and the first university
that answered me was Loyola.
I had written to many
universities, but I couldn't wait.
I didn't want to waste time, so I
went to Chicago in Loyola University
and continued my studies
there, and I got a BA
in Economics, Political Science.
And then I worked on my MA.
At that point I dropped the
economics and I, I concentrated
on international relations
in United Nations.
And because it was my father's
wish to, to go into politics,
although myself, I wanted to,
I'm a born poet if you will
and I want to do literature.
My father said to me that you will
learn literature any time yourself.
So I, my official studies
were in the field of politics.
But when I came to Afghanistan,
probably my father had in mind
for me to go and work
in the foreign office.
That never worked out because
then the revolution came.
Not quite revolution but the
White Revolution as they call it,
during Prince Daoud's [inaudible].
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: So you spent,
after your, after your, your MA
and when you returned
to Afghanistan.
How long did you stay
in Afghanistan?
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Two years.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Two years.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Mm-hmm.
And then I left Afghanistan
because I felt
that I could not continue my
studies there because I had
to write my thesis for my
doctorate, which I had passed the,
the exams for, the entry for.
What do you call it?
Entrance --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
Yeah, entrance exam.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
Examination for doctorate.
But I could not find the
material, so I thought I'd go
out somewhere in Europe or America.
And I sat for an, an examination
at Fulbright, for which I did pass,
and I was awarded the, the
grant, but unfortunately --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: You were
still in Afghanistan at the time?
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Yeah,
in Kabul, in Kabul, yeah.
Yeah.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: You
were awarded the --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Yeah.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Fulbright.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: The
grant, the Fulbright grant, yeah.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
-- in Afghanistan.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: That, that
would have been a fantastic thing.
That's exactly what, what I
wanted to go out and work again
and then some American school for
my doctorate, but unfortunately
that did not materialize
because the regime had changed,
and when I went for permission.
I had to go and have the permission
of the Minister of Education,
and the minister said to me that
I had seen Europe and America,
and this was now, I should give
this right to other Afghans to have,
to have their opportunity
to go and see America.
And I told him that it was my
merit and I studied for it.
I worked for it and I passed it.
So unfortunately I was not
granted, the Fullbright said to me,
the Office of Fulbright in Kabul.
They, they were distressed about it,
but they said they couldn't
do anything because --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
Because the government --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: -- the
government had to accept you.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
-- had to accept you.
That's right.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
-- approve of it.
Then the first opportunity that I,
that arose that we could buy a
passport, I bought a passport
for Switzerland, and I left
Afghanistan with, with a suitcase
of 20 kilos, summer clothes.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Had the Soviet --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: No,
Soviet had not come yet, no.
Just pre-Soviet.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Yeah.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
But you could feel it.
You could feel that
everything was very [inaudible].
Then I went to, chose
to go to Switzerland,
where my brother was working
in Switzerland at that time,
and I thought I'd go for a while
and then maybe the situation
will improve and come back.
I never thought that that
would be the last time
that I'd see my country.
So then in Switzerland I had the,
the good luck of finding a job
in the United Nations in Geneva
since I had specialized
in the United Nations.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: So what
office was it at United Nations
where you, where you worked?
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: I worked in
the Economic Commission for Europe,
which is a very old, one of the
old offices of the United Nations,
which is directly connected with
the ECOSOC, and it was very useful
at the time of what we call the Cold
War because we were, we were dealing
with economic, with investments
and economic contracts
between governments.
So then our office
would actually sort
of a [inaudible] for
them or immediate.
No, not immediate, a bridge between
because they could not have anything
on private, private sections.
It had to be through government.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: So
your economics did help!
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: It did
a little bit, a little bit,
although I, I edited,
I edited the magazine,
which was called a newsletter.
It was a newsletter,
Joint Ventures Investment,
because they started this joint
venture business in south,
in European, Eastern Europe,
under Soviet block at the time.
And then it worked very well
until the fall of communism.
But still, then I was sent
to, I was sort of put, I, I,
I had signed up for many missions,
peace missions because I thought
at least I will also continue
with something to, to,
the peace work of the
United Nations.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Around the world.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
Around the world.
And since I was a member,
staff member,
permanent staff member
of the United Nations.
So then I went to Haiti.
But unfortunately I was, I fell ill
and I could not, you
couldn't do that.
But in the meantime, I had
also, while I was working
in the United Nations, I
wanted to be a translator.
So I passed the exam with Cambridge.
I passed the exam.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: And you
speak several languages?
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Yeah.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Mm-hmm.
Which, which language.
Well, you're fluent
in English, French --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: English,
French, Arabic I studied,
which I never managed to speak.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb:
And Persian as well.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Persian is
my mother tongue, and a little bit
of pashtun which is also
our national language.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Yes.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: I know a
little German because when I was
in Prague I refused to learn
Czech language, so I learned --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: German --
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: And
that helped me in Cairo
because there were quite a few of
my classmates that spoke German,
so we used to practice our German.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Yes.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: And so then
what the, the most important thing
that I did was that, of
course, I got a, a degree from,
from Cambridge, which is a degree
in literature where my, my --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: So you
went back to your passion.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: And
because I wanted to learn,
I wanted to translate the work of
art of Afghanistan and literature
and poems of, Persian poems, and --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: [inaudible]
by this wonderful translations
that you've done of
Afghanistan poetesses.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: As it
happened, well UNESCO had a,
a kind of a, well no, the United
Nations actually designated the year
2000 as the year of women.
Since I'm also defender of women and
I have worked a lot, dedicated a lot
of my time to, to the
defense of Afghan women,
not only for political
right but also other rights
and the literature as well.
So then UNESCO was celebrating
that year and they had asked me
to translate poems of, by
Afghan poet women, which I did,
and I'm very happy that I, it came
out as a very, very, really a very,
very good work because
it was the first time
that anyone had taken the
initiative to translate our poetry
into a, a European language.
And I chose --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Your poetry go
back, it goes back 1,000 years.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Exactly.
Exactly. The very first poet Afghan
woman, who was an Afghan princess
from Balkh, Rabeha Balkhi, who
was contemporary of Roudaki,
the first male poet of
the Persian language.
So I translated her poems and
then also contemporary poets,
about 20 Afghan poets,
and we compiled this
and this anthology exists.
It's called The Hidden
Face of Afghan Women.
The idea for me was that I wanted
to show a, the, a positive side
of Afghan women and
Afghan women's contribution
to our heritage, cultural heritage.
And this was translated into
French as well, and, and,
and I did the English
translation, so that's the --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: And
you're a multifaceted artist.
I know that you were
interested in dancing as well.
Tell me, tell me the
lovely story of the dance
of Katya Kuryende [phonetic]
in Cairo.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj: Yeah.
Well I was a student then.
A student's class, and I was
very, very interested in it,
and my teacher was a Russian
emigre, liked me very, very much.
She said that I did not know a
good, I didn't have good technique
because I hadn't done enough
years for the, hadn't devoted
to the technical aspect of
it, but I had natural grace.
That's what she used to say.
So then I was chosen to, to
dance solo the, of [inaudible]
and be the bride and dance
on the stage for school
for our, for our university.
And just half an hour before
we had our last rehearsal,
she was very disappointed.
She said listen, I don't
know if you can manage it.
I, I really don't think so.
But then as I entered the,
the scene and the applause
of the audience really
transported me.
I had this feeling of, extraordinary
feeling of actually flying,
so I didn't realize what
I was doing good or bad,
but apparently it turned
out to be very --
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Yes.
>> Leila Enayat-Seraj:
-- successful.
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: It was,
it was, you had rave reviews,
and you were absolutely dashing.
But thank you so much, Leila,
for having shared a little bit
of your life and your
achievements with us,
and I wish you all the best.
I know that you will be doing
wonderful things in the future.
And I was again so happy to see
you again after all those years.
Thank you.
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.