Asia Abdelmajid

Asia Mohammed Tom Taher Al-Katiabi was born in 1943 in Omdurman, Sudan, to Batoul Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sheikh Al-Jali. The Al-Katiabi family included other notable creators such as the poet Al-Tijani Yusuf Bashir and Abdul Qadir Al-Ktiabi. She was raised by her relative, Abdul Majid, who was like a second father, and she took his name.[3]

Asia studied at Abdel Moneim Primary School in Khartoum, then studied at Karary Middle School. In 1959, she joined the Teachers College in Omdurman, and worked as a teacher in the same college after graduating in 1962. Asia went to Egypt in 1968 to study at the Academy of Arts in Cairo, in the Acting Department, and graduated in 1972. She was the top of her cohort which included Ahmed Zaki, Ahmed Abdel Warth, Ahmed Maher, Samira Mohsen, Shahira and Afaf Shuaib. She received her master's degree from the Khartoum International Institute for Arabic Education and Further Studies, and during her studies in Cairo, she participated in a minor role in the play Al-Bakashin in the Khiam Theater starring Farid Shawqi.[4]

Asia loved acting since her childhood when she acted the stories of primary-level books. At Karary School, she joined the Acting Association under of Professor Buthaina Khaled, to present Arabic and international theatrical masterpieces such as Shajar al-Durr, Cleopatra and Cinderella. She sometimes played male roles in plays.[3] Asia was admired by Professor Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim who wrote an article about her in the magazine Voice of Women.

When Sudan TV began operating in 1963, Asia was participating in the community theatre with Helmy Ibrahim and others. In addition, she was part of a Ramadan series with Al-Fadl Saeed which was presented live. The series was done free of charge for two consecutive years because there was no budget.[3]

In 1965, in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the October Revolution, she presented the play Pamseeka, which was the first play to be shown on the stage of the new National Stage in Omdurman. She played the leading role and the press called her ”Sudan’s first actress".[5]

Abdelmajid died on the evening of 3 May 2023 from wounds caused by shrapnel of a shell that fell on her house in Khartoum during clashes in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.[6][7] She was buried within hours of shooting in the grounds of a kindergarten where she worked, because it was too dangerous to take her to a cemetery.[6]