The first Egyptian actress, wife and life-time partner of Egyptian theatre pioneer George Abiad, Dawlat Abiad was born on January 29,1884, with the maiden name of Dawlat Habeeb Boutros Qasabgi.

Abiad's talent for drama acting was quite manifest since she was a student at the boarding school and her passion for acting became stronger, when she met the then famous drama artist Azeez Eed who was impressed by her beauty and talent; he invited her to join his drama troupe as the main actress. She left her family and moved to Alexandria, the seat of Eed's theatrical troupe. However, Mrs. Abiad did not like the type of drama presented by Eed's troupe, being mainly comedies, and therefore left one month later. Azeez Eed sent her to al Reehani's troupe, which was also presenting comedies. She stayed only for four days and left for the same reason. AI-Reehani in turn sent her to George Abiad who was presenting the drama genre she had been looking for; tragedies.

At the age of 23, she found her first chance, when the actress playing Queen Jocuste in Oedipus Fell, and Dawlat played this part so well that she attracted the admiration of George Abiad.

Dawlat Abiad personified major classical roles at George Abiad's theatre, chief of which was Desdemona in Othello and Daliala in Samson and Daliala.

In the cinema, she played several serious parts, including " Zainab the first Egyptian mute film directed by Mohammad Kareem during the forties, in addition to other films such as "The Gentry", "The White Rose", "Teenagers" and "M's Empire" in 1973, which was her last.

Mrs. Abiad also worked for several other troupes including Munira- al Mahdeya's and Sayyed Darweesh's.

Mrs. Abiad was granted an Award for "Pioneering in Acting". She was also awarded “the Nile Cinema Prize" by the State.