Shabnam Shakeel

Her first book Tanqeedi Mazameen, was published in 1965. She won numerous awards, honours and titles for her contributions to Urdu literature including the prestigious Presidential Pride of Performance award in 2005.

• Name — Shabnam Shakeel • Born — 12 March 1942 • Birthplace — Lahore, Pakistan • Died — 2 March 2013 • Place of death — Karachi • Occupation — Academician, poet

Shabnam was born on 12 March 1942 in Lahore, Pakistan. Her father Syed Abid Ali Abid was a poet and academician and thus she was given the opportunity to grow up in a literary environment and was exposed to notable people such as Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. She was a student at Kinnaird College and graduated from Islamia College, both in Lahore. She received a Master of Arts degree in Urdu literature from Oriental College, Lahore. After finishing her studies, she joined Queen's Mary College, Lahore as a professor of Urdu language and literature. For the next 30 years, she worked as a teacher at different colleges in Pakistan such as Lahore College for Women University, Government Girls College, Quetta, and Federal Government College F-7/2 in Islamabad. In 1967, she married Syed Shakeel Ahmad who was a civil servant. The couple had two sons, Waqar Hasnain Ahmad and Jehanzeb Ahmad, and one daughter Malahat Awan. Shabnam died on 2 March 2013 in Karachi. Her Namaz-e-Janaza was offered in F-11 Graveyard in Islamabad on March 3. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf gave his condolences to the family in a message expressing his grief over her death.

Her first book, Tanqeedi Mazameen was published in 1965. Some of her other published poetry collections were Shabzaad (1987), Izteraab (1994), Taqreeb Kuch Tau (2003) and Musafat Raigan Thi (2008).