Fatima al-Fihri

Fatima bint Muhammad al-Fihri al-Qurayshiyya was a Muslim woman from Kairouan (Tunisia) who settled in Fez, Morocco. She founded the al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university in 859 CE (245 AH), which is recognized by UNESCO and the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest continuously operating degree-granting university in the world. Her founding of this institution made her one of the most significant patrons of education in Islamic history.