Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman

Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman is a Yemeni journalist, politician and a member of the Al-Islah political party in Yemen. Karman has also been working as a human rights activist for a long time. She leads a group of women journalists called “Women Journalists Without Chains”. He founded it in 2005. Karman became internationally known during the 2011 Yemeni uprising. Yemeni people call her “Iron Man” and “Mother of Rebellion”. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. She is the first Yemeni and the first Arab woman to win this award. She also became the second Muslim woman and the second youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Karman became known in Yemen as a journalist in 2005. He was then a spokesperson for a mobile phone news service, whose license was revoked in 2007. He then started a movement for media freedom. In addition, Karman also campaigned in favor of the Arab revolt. He became a staunch opponent of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Karman was born on February 7, 1979 in Mekhlaf, Yemen. Mekhlaf is near the city of Taiz. Taiz is the third largest city in Yemen and is home to many renowned educational institutions. Karman studied in Taiz city. His father’s name is Abdel Salam Karman, he is a lawyer and politician. Abdel Salam was once the Minister of Legal Affairs of the Government of Yemen. A brother of Tawakkol Karman, his name is Tariq Karman. Tariq Karman is a famous Yemeni poet. Tawakkol Karman’s sister is Safa Karman, a journalist for Al-Jazeera. Karman’s husband’s name is Mohammed Al-Nahmi. They have three children.

Karman holds a bachelor’s degree in business education and a master’s degree in political science. In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate degree in international law from the University of Alberta, Canada.

In 2010, a woman tried to stab Karman to death at a protest, but Karman’s supporters fought back. Tariq Karman was quoted as saying that a senior Yemeni official threatened to kill his sister Tawakkol Karman in January 2011 and asked her to be banned from participating in protests.

The ancestors of the Karaman family lived in the region of Karaman in Anatolia, Turkey. The Turkish government granted Karman Turkish citizenship, which Karman officially accepted in October 2012.