Gertrude Ghorbāl (1896-1953)

Gertrude Ghorbāl, born Sarah Gertrude Humberstone, was an academic and geologist.

Biography

She was born in Bradford in 1896, the daughter of police constable Joseph Humberstone and his wife Frances (née Larder).

She was the recipient of the first Geography degree granted by the University of Leeds. Her thesis on the woollen industry of the Huddersfield district was later expanded into History of the Huddersfield Woollen Industry (1935) by W.B. Crump.[1]

She met her future husband, Shafīq Ghurbāl (1894-1961), whilst they were both studying Geology at the University of Liverpool. After their marriage, they lived in Egypt, where he lectured in History and eventually became the Egyptian Under Secretary for Education.[2]

Gertrude Ghorbāl died on 4 December 1953 at Heliopolis, Egypt.

Notes and References

  1. "Huddersfield and its Woollens: Remarkable Record of Family Businesses in Yorkshire Post (15/Jan/1936).
  2. Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State (2013) by Youssef M. Choueiri, pages 78-79.