After a love that lasted 75 years.. the story of the English Griselda in Sudan

After a love story for Sudan that lasted 75 years, Griselda El-Tayeb chose to be buried next to her husband, an Arabic linguist and former Director of the University of Khartoum, Abdullah El-Tayeb, who died in 2003.

Griselda’s story began with Sudan in 1945 when she was studying art at the University of London, where she met a doctoral student from Sudan for the same university, Abdullah Al-Tayeb, who married her a few months after the first meeting and later brought her to his village in northern Sudan.

Just as Griselda loved her good husband, she loved the life of Sudan and remained a part of it even after her husband’s death nearly 20 years ago.

Despite her advanced age, Griselda has been working in recent years to immortalize her husband’s work through many artistic and cultural activities.

Those close to her say that she has completely succeeded in implementing his will of preserving his huge scientific legacy of books and recordings in the field of language, story and interpretation of the Noble Qur’an.

A relative of the late Abdullah al-Tayyib, who hails from one of the western villages of the Nile opposite the city of Damer in northern Sudan, indicates that al-Tayyib, as he was an inspiration to Sudan and the Arab world, was also inspiring to his wife, whose inspiration was reflected in her loyalty to his family, his village, and his huge scientific heritage.

This loyalty was largely embodied in her choosing Sudan as the place of her life after the death of her husband, despite the difficult circumstances that the country experienced during the recent period.

The man told “Sky News Arabia” that their grief over the departure of Griselda is no less than their grief over the departure of their kind son 20 years ago.

According to him, the presence of Griselda among them over the past twenty years eased the sadness of their loss of goodness, as they saw in it a symbol of human loyalty, regardless of races or nations.
Griselda is considered one of those who contributed greatly to the consolidation of the meanings of popular diplomacy, as the British Embassy in Khartoum described her in expressive words, noting that she was one of the oldest British nationals residing in Sudan.

In 2002, she was awarded the British Queen’s Medal in appreciation of her contributions to British-Sudanese relations.

Despite reaching the age of ninety-five, Griselda continued her social and artistic activities with vigor until a few days before her death on Friday.

In the recent period, she was able to make great contributions in the field of plastic art, folklore and popular fashion design. The late woman was very interested in educating Sudanese women and was very active in the field of defending women’s rights.

On Friday, hundreds of Sudanese mourned Griselda Al-Tayeb (95 years), to her final resting place in a cemetery in north Khartoum, far from her mother country, England, to write the final chapter of her story.