List of female calligraphers explained

This is a partial list of notable female calligraphers.

3rd century

• Xie Daoyun Chinese poet, writer, scholar and calligrapher
• Wei Shuo (272–349) Chinese calligrapher

7th-10th centuries

• Al-Shifa' bint Abdullah Arabic calligrapher
• Al-Nuddar (d. 984) Andalusian calligrapher and scholar^[1]
• Umm al-Darda al-Sughra ^[2]
• Sana (8th Century) Abbasid calligrapher ^[3]
• Fadl (d. 260/873-74) Abbasid poet and calligrapher
• Gulsum al-Attabi (d. 220/835) Arabic calligrapher
• Fadl (10th Century)
• Duhtar-i ibn Mukla Shirazi (10th Century)
• Muzna (d. 358/969)
• Fadl (d. 260/873-74)
• Fatima (?-?) Andalusian calligrapher

11th-12th centuries

• Safiyyah bint Abd al-Rabb (d. 1026)
• Fatima bint Zakariya bint Abdullah al-Shebbarp (d. 1036)
• Diemoth (b. 1060-130) Bavarian calligrapher
• Fatima al-Baghdadi bint Hasan b. ‘Alī b. ‘Abdullah Attar (d. 480/1087) Iraqi calligrapher
• Fakhr-un-Nisa (d. 1112) Iranian calligrapher
• Lubna (d. 1003) Abbasid poet and calligrapher ^[4]
• Zaynab Shahda bint Ahmad b. Al-Faraj b. ‘Omar Al-Abrī (d. 547/1178) Iraqi calligrapher ^[5]
• Sittu'r-Rida bint Nasrallah b. Mas'ud (d. after 567/1171)

13th-14th centuries

• Shuhda Bint Al-‘Ibari (d. 1178) Abbasid calligrapher ^[6]
• Guan Daosheng (1262–1319) Chinese poet, painter and calligrapher
• Cao Miaoqing Chinese poet and calligrapher
• Sitt Nasim Abbasid calligrapher ^[7]

15th-16th centuries

• Clara Hätzlerin (c. 1430–1476) Bavarian scribe
• Jacomina Hondius (1558–1628) Flemish and Dutch calligrapher
• Esther Inglis (1571–1624) English miniaturist and calligrapher
• Margareta Karthäuserin (b. ?) Bavarian scribe
• Elizabeth Lucar (1510–1537) British calligrapher
• Marie Pavie (fl. 1600) French calligrapher
• Fatimah bint Quraymazan (d. 1558)^[4]
• Shin Saimdang (1504–1551) Korean artist, author and calligrapher
• Maria Strick (1577-1625) Dutch calligrapher and teacher

17th-18th centuries

• Amina (daughter of calligrapher, Mustafa Chelebi) minor calligrapher active in Ottoman Bosnia ^[8]
• Goharshad Ghazvini Persian calligrapher
• Ike Gyokuran (1727–1784) Japanese painter and calligrapher
• Esmâ Ibret Hanim (b. 1780) Ottoman calligrapher
• Marjan al-Katib al-Islami Iranian calligrapher
• Fatıma Ânî Hanım (d.1122 / 1710) Ottoman calligrapher
• Fatıma Tûtî (d. 1106-1123 / 1694-95)
• Fang Weiyi (1585–1668) Chinese poet, calligrapher and historian
• Şerife Zehra Hanim Ottoman calligrapher^[9]
• Im Yunjidang (1721–1793) Korean philosopher and calligrapher
• Cao Zhenxiu (b. 1762) Chinese calligrapher

19th-20th centuries

• Wijdan Ali (b. 1939) Iraqi calligrapher
• Ameena Ahmad Ahuja Indian painter and calligrapher
• Leslie Charlotte Benenson (1941–2018) English artist and calligrapher
• Mickie Caspi (b. 1961) Israeli calligrapher and artist
• Wasma'a Khalid Chorbachi (b. 1944) American-Iraqi artist and calligrapher
• Chang Ch'ung-ho (1914–2015) Chinese poet and calligrapher
• Winnie Siu Davies (b. ?) Chinese painter and calligrapher
• Elizabeth Friedländer (1903–1984) German calligrapher
• Jen Taylor Friedman (b. ?) ritual scribe
• Wang Huiqin (b. 1945) Chinese-Slovenian calligrapher
• Hu Jieqing (1905–2001) Chinese painter and calligrapher
• Pouran Jinchi (b. 1959) Iranian-American artist and calligrapher
• Samira Kitman (b. 1984) Afghani-British calligrapher and artist
• Hildegard Korger (b. 1935) German calligrapher
• Monika Krajewska (b. ?) Polish calligrapher and mizrah artist
• Patricia Lovett (b.?) British scribe, calligrapher and illuminator
• Ada Louise Powell (b. 1865) British decorative artist and calligrapher
• Zahide Selma Hanim (1857–1895) Ottoman calligrapher ^[10]
• Hilal Kazan - Turkish academic, historian and calligrapher ^[11]
• Midori Kono Thiel (b. ?) Japanese-American calligrapher
• Huda Totonji (b.?) Arab-American calligrapher
• Carol Twombly (b. 1959) American calligrapher
• Şerife Fatma "Mevhibe" Hanım Ottoman calligrapher^[12]
• Ema Saikō (1787–1861) Japanese calligrapher
• Zulaykhah Khatimi al-Sa'di (?-?) ^[13]
• Emine Servet Hanim (b. 1859) Ottoman calligrapher ^[14]
• Soraya Syed (b. 1976) English-Pakistani calligrapher
• Gudrun Zapf von Hesse (1918–2019) German typographer, calligrapher and book-binder
• Sheila Waters (1929—2022) English calligrapher
• Irene Wellington (1904–1984) British calligrapher
• Mary White (ceramicist and calligrapher) (1926–2013) British calligrapher
• Hilda Wiseman (1894–1982) Australian calligrapher, artist and designer
• Rachel Yallop (b. ?) British calligrapher
• Yuan Xiaoyuan (1901–2003) Chinese diplomat, politician, author, linguist, calligrapher and artist
• Lou Zhenggang (b. 1966) Chinese artist and calligrapher
• Nuria Garcia Masip (b. 1978) Spanish Calligrapher

See also

• Calligraphy
• Islamic calligraphy

Further reading

• Salah al-Din al-Munajjid, "Women's Roles in the Art of Arabic Calligraphy" in: George Nicholas Atiyeh (ed.), The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp 141–149.

Notes and References

1. Al-Munajjid, S.A.D., "Women's Roles in the Art of Arabic Calligraphy" in: George Nicholas Atiyeh (ed.), The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995, p. 146
2. Sayeed, A., Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam, Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp 70-71
3. Kazan, H., Dünden Bugüne Hanım Hattatlar (Female Calligraphers Past And Present), Istanbul, Büyükşehir Belediyesi, 2010, Chapter 5
4. Momin, A.R., "The Calligraphic World of Nuria Garcia Masip", IOS Minaret, Vol. 10, No. 8, 1–15 September 2015 Online:
5. Kazan, H., Dünden Bugüne Hanim Hattatlar [Female calligraphers past and present],Istanbul, Büyüksehir Belediyesi Kültür Isleri Daire Baskanligi, 2010,
6. Adams Helminski, C., Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure, Shambhala Publications, 2003, [E-book edition], n.p.
7. Al-Munajjid, S.A.D., "Women's Roles in the Art of Arabic Calligraphy" in: George Nicholas Atiyeh (ed.), The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995, p. 146
8. Dervisevic, H., "18th-century Qur'an Transcribed by a Woman," Islamic Arts Magazine, 1 June 2017, http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/18th_century_quran_transcribed_by_a_woman
9. Kazan H., "XIX. Asırda Bir Kadın Hattat: Şerife Zehra Hanım", Toplumsal Tarih, 2014, pp 86-90
10. Türkischer Biographischer Index [Turkish Biographical Index], De Gruyter, 2011, p. 1087
11. Muslim Heritage, Online:
12. Islamic Arts Portal, Online (in Turkish and English)
13. Al-Munajjid, S.A.D., "Women's Roles in the Art of Arabic Calligraphy" in: George Nicholas Atiyeh (ed.), The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp 146-147
14. Schick, T.C., M. Uğur Derman 65th birthday Festschrift Sabancı Universitesi, 2000, p. 347