Sameera Moussa

On August 5, 1952 after her first visit to America she intended to return home, but she was invited on a trip. On the way, the car fell from a height of 40 feet, which killed her immediately. It has been alleged that the Israeli Mossad was behind Moussa's death, aided by a Jewish-Egyptian actress, Raqya Ibrahim (Rachael Abraham).

Dr. Sameera Moussa was the first assistant professor at the school of Sciences at Cairo University and more impressively the first woman at the university to obtain a university post due to her groundbreaking PhD in atomic radiation from the 1940s. Inspired by the contribution of earlier Muslim scientists, including her teacher, Dr. Moustafa Mashrafa, Sameera began writing an article on the work done by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi in founding algebra. She also authored multiple articles that communicate the theory behind nuclear energy, its impact, and safety of their use in simpler terms. She also discussed the history of the atom and its structure, and dangers of nuclear fission technology, as well as the properties of radiation and their biological effects.

Despite the fact that Moussa achieved high grades in her secondary education, and could have pursued a career in engineering, she insisted on joining the Faculty of Sciences at Cairo University. In 1939, Moussa obtained a BSc in radiology with first class honors after researching the effects of X-ray radiation on various materials. Dr. Moustafa Mousharafa, the first dean of the faculty, believed in his student enough to help her become a remarkable lecturer at the faculty. Afterwards, she became the first assistant professor at the same faculty, the first woman to hold a university post, and the first to have obtained a PhD in atomic radiation.

Sameera Moussa (Egyptian Arabic: سميرة موسى) (March 3, 1917 – August 5, 1952) was the first female Egyptian nuclear physicist. Sameera held a doctorate in atomic radiation. She hoped her work would one day lead to affordable medical treatments and the peaceful use of atomic energy. She organized the Atomic Energy for Peace Conference and sponsored a call that set an international conference under the banner "Atoms for Peace." She was the first woman to work at Cairo University.

Moussa was born in Egypt in Gharbia Governorate in 1917. Her mother died from cancer, and her father was a famous political activist. He moved with his daughter to Cairo and invested his money in a small hotel in the El-Hussein region. At the insistence of her father, Moussa attended Kaser El-Shok primary school, one of the oldest schools in Cairo. After she completed her primary education, she joined the Banat El-Ashraf school, which was built and managed by her father.