1. Fatimah el-Sharif was born in Italian Cyrenaica in 1911 as the fifth daughter of Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, the former chief of the Senussi order of Sufism.
12 Facts About Fatimah el-Sharif
1. 2.
Fatimah el-Sharif's father was active in resistance against colonial forces.
3.
When Idris decided to obey the demands to remarry in order to have an heir, Fatimah el-Sharif selected two women as prospective brides.
4.
Fatimah el-Sharif chose neither of them, but instead an Egyptian woman appointed by his premier, Alia Abdel Kader Lamloum, whom he married in 1955.
5.
Fatimah el-Sharif was described as humorous and tactful, with an ability to make people relax, especially children.
6.
In 1954, queen Fatimah el-Sharif was interviewed in her small private palace in Benghazi by the journalist Nel Slis, who described her as an elegant and imposing woman dressed in the fashion of Christian Dior, and who spoke to her with her lady-in-waiting Selma Dajani as interpreter, since she could only understand a little English.
7.
Nel Slis noted that queen Fatimah el-Sharif had not lived a secluded life in her youth but been allowed to mix with men and play tennis dressed in shorts, but that as queen, she had been forced to live a life secluded in her private palace in Benghazi, and did not appear in public in Libya:.
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Christian Dior 8.
Fatimah el-Sharif was in Turkey with her spouse at the time of Muammar Gaddafi's coup in 1969.
9.
Fatimah el-Sharif subsequently lived in Cairo from 3 November 1969 until her death.
10.
Fatimah el-Sharif was later tried in absentia by the Libyan People's Court and sentenced in November 1971 to five years in prison and seizure of her assets.
11.
Fatimah el-Sharif's body was flown to Saudi Arabia for burial at Al-Baqi' in Medina beside her husband and her father accompanied by her longtime companions and servants Nafa al-Arabi al-Senussi, his wife Alia Benghalbon, and her longtime friend Amina Darbi.
12.
Fatimah el-Sharif's body was finally laid to rest in the Hamza Cemetery near Mount Uhud in Medina on 7 October 2009 after salat al-Janazah in al-Masjid an-Nabawi.