Celebrity Biographies
Malala Yousafzai- Youngest Nobel Prize winner
Meet Malala Yousafzai, The Youngest Nobel Prize Winner in the World
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist who has broken the world record as the youngest Nobel Prize winner in the world. Although she is now 25 years old, Yousafzai was awarded the Guinness World Record title at the age of 17.
Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in North-West Pakistan. Her father (Ziauddin Yousafzai) is a diplomat and social activist who has private schools and education rights campaigns to his name. This background contributed greatly to Yousafzai’s great success.
How Malala Yousafzai Became the Youngest Nobel Prize Winner in the World
Yousafzai’s writing first came into public light when she was invited to write on the rise of religious fundamentalism in Pakistan, and its effects on everyday life by BBC Urdu. The website grabbed the idea of asking a schoolgirl to do the writing based on her experiences.
Former BBC Urdu Editor, Mirza Waheed said: “We had been covering the violence and politics in Swat in detail but we didn’t know much about how ordinary people lived under the Taliban.” Blogging under the alias ‘Gul Makai’ (‘Cornflower’), Yousafzai took up the role at her father’s suggestion.
Her first blog was posted on January 3 2009, covering military activities in the Swat Valley, including the destruction of more than 100 girls’ schools, and the closure of hers.
“Malala’s final blog entry came two months later on 12 March. By that time, her public profile had risen considerably. By the end of the year, she had also interviewed by several national newspapers, from the Urdu Daily Aaj to the Canadian Toronto Star, and her true identity had been revealed”.- Guinness World Record
Yousafzai faced several online and physical death threats as a result of her activism but she never backed down. After a near-death experience, she gained the world’s attention, including that of the former US President, Barrack Obama. She however survived the incident and continued with activism, this time, with world support.
Before emerging as the youngest Nobel prize winner in the world in 2014, Malala Yousafzai received Pakistan’s National Peace Award for Youth. She joins the likes of Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka, and America’s John Clauser on the list of Nobel Prize winners.