Malala Yousafzai
March 2, 2017
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education, was born in the Swat District of Pakistan in July of 1997.
As a child, she became a proponent for women’s education, as her family ran and operated a school.
She ran a blog about her struggles as a young girl going through the Pakistani education system, which was overseen by the Taliban.
After defying a rejection to schooling under the Taliban’s regime, a gunman shot Yousafzai when she was traveling home from school on Oct. 9, 2012.
Surviving the attack, she spoke out even more heartily for the importance of women’s education, and wrote her bestselling book, “I Am Malala.”
She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 and 2014 and was finally awarded the prize in 2014, becoming the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize receiver at the age of 17.