A veteran of Egyptian stage and screen. Amina appeared in over 500 stage plays in the 160-year history of modern Egyptian theatre from Greek tragedies to modern works, as well as acting in 250 films. She won several national and international awards and in 1991 became a member of the upper house of the Egyptian parliament. Amina's talents emerged when she was in teens, in silent movies of the 1920s, like her portrait of 'Saud the Gypsy' in Saud el-Ghagariyah (1928). Egypt's first 'talkie' Awlad el Zawat (The Aristocrats), in 1932, had Amina as a starring role. Though she came on television since 1958 but theatre remained her passion. Amina's demanding role of domineering mother in Al-Arnab al-Aswad, a complicated psychological thriller written in the 1960s to symbolise the control of intellectuals and artists through manipulation and psychological terror was one of her heights. Amina was born in Tanta, 80 miles north of Cairo, daughter of a civil servant and became orphan when she was eight-year old. Amina was fostered by her aunt and the latter became her role model in her career.