Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Starting at a very
young age, she has been a tireless advocate for the education of girls.
Her focus on education was influenced by her father, who ran a chain of schools in the
region. Malala became an outspoken advocate for girl’s education when the Taliban
began to infiltrate her village, attacking schools and forbidding education for females
over the age of eight years old.
Malala refused to let the Taliban stifle her desire to learn. In September 2008, she gave a
speech in Peshawar Pakistan entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to
education?”
In 2009 she became an anonymous blogger for the BBC, describing in great detail what it
was like living under the rule of the Taliban. She blogged under the pseudonym Gul
Makai, but in December her real identity was revealed. Her family later discovered that
the Taliban had issued a death threat against her.
Undeterred, Malala continued to speak out for the right of all girls to be educated, and in
2011 she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and won Pakistan’s
National Youth Peace Prize.
On October 9, 2012, Malala was riding home from school on the bus when a gunman got
on the bus and called out her name. Instinctively the other girls looked toward her and
inadvertently revealed her identity. The man shot at Malala 3 times, striking her in the
head and injuring two other girls.
She was hospitalized, put in a medically induced coma and in critical condition. But her
determined spirit fought back. Soon she was well enough to be transferred to a hospital in
England, where she received further care and rehabilitation.
In the two years since the attack, Malala has continued her crusade to fight those who
would deny an education to girls. She is an international speaker, and best-selling author
of her autobiography I Am Malala.
She is also co-founder of The Malala Fund, an organization led by Malala that helps girls
go to school and raise their voices for the right to education.
On December 10, 2014, Malala became the youngest recipient in history to be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.
For more on Malala and her foundation click here http://www.malala.org/