Malala Yousafzai (1997 - )

Sat Jul 12, 1997

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Malala Yousafzai, born on this day in 1997, is a Pakistani feminist and socialist activist who survived an attempted assassination by the Taliban at fifteen years old.

As a teen, Yousafzai began to achieve international prominence for her activism in favor of female education. She blogged for the BBC, appeared in a documentary by request of a New York Times reporter, made multiple media appearances, and was awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize.

In a meeting held in the summer of 2012, Taliban leaders unanimously agreed to kill her. On October 9th that year, a Taliban gunman shot Yousafzai in the face, along with two other girls, as she rode home on a bus after taking an exam in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. She survived.

In 2014, she was the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Aged 17 at the time, she was the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. In 2020, Malala graduated from Oxford University.

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”

- Malala Yousafzai