Shirin Ebadi

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Human Rights Activist, Former Judge

Iran

Shirin Ebadi is the first Iranian and Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1975, she became the first woman to preside over a court in Iran. As a lawyer, she focused on defending victims of human rights abuse, while writing and publishing 14 books, like the Rights of the Child (1988) and Tradition and Modernity in the Iranian legal system (1996). Ms. Ebadi was first imprisoned in 1999 and again prosecuted in 2009 for criticizing the Islamic Republic. In 2006, she co-founded the Nobel Women's Initiative in Canada. In 2012, she established the Centre for Defenders of Human Rights in London through which she continues her activities towards advancing human rights in Iran and in Islamic countries.