Shirin Ebadi
Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, and former judge.
- field
- Law, human rights activism
- nationality
- Iranian
Lore & Background
Ebadi was born in Hamedan into an educated family; her father was a chief notary public and professor of commercial law. As a lawyer, Ebadi took pro bono cases of dissidents persecuted by the Iranian judiciary, including the family of Dariush Forouhar and his wife, who were murdered in a spate of killings linked to employees of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. In 2000, she was accused of manipulating a videotaped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi; she and another lawyer were sentenced to five years in jail, though the sentences were later vacated.
Reader's Guide
Despite facing dismissal from her judgeship and years of restrictions on practicing law, she continued to advocate through legal cases and by founding NGOs such as the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child and the Defenders of Human Rights Center. Her work brought international attention to Iran's problematic child custody laws and the legal burdens placed on victims' families. Her legacy is that of a persistent legal advocate who sought change from within Iran's system while opposing foreign intervention.
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