Widely regarded as Bengal's earliest and boldest feminist writer, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) was a pioneering and creative educationist and social activist, and the school she founded in Kolkata, the Sakhawat Memorial School for Girls, still thrives. The school was founded on 16th March, 1911.
One of the first Bengali women architect in the UK, Shaheen Westcombe MBE has been working hard to make Begum Rokeya’s name and vision more known to the Western world. A group of students from London’s Rose Bruford College had also been working alongside with Ms. Westcombe.
Currently on a tour of West Bengal, the students - Alia Ruth Wilson, Claudia Haley and R M Leaver — are screening the recordings of a play titled “Rokeya’s Dream” — based on her satire, Sultana’s Dream — in different universities across West Bengal including Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan and Burdwan University. They held a workshop.