Biography
About Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi was born on January 22, 1947, in the city of Hamedan, Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, was a distinguished jurist and a prominent advocate for human rights. His book Commercial Law was later revised and updated by his daughter. Shirin has consistently described her father as a role model and a key source of inspiration for her pursuit of justice and social equity.
When Shirin was just one year old, her family relocated to Tehran, where she completed her primary, secondary, and higher education. In 1965, she was admitted to the Faculty of Law and graduated three years later with a bachelor’s degree. After completing her legal apprenticeship, she was appointed as a judge in 1969. She quickly rose through the ranks, and by 1975, she was named the head of Branch 26 of the Tehran City Court—making her the first woman and the youngest individual ever to hold such a position at the time.
That same year, she got married and later became the mother of two daughters, Negar and Narges. Following the 1979 Revolution, all female judges were dismissed from their positions, as the new regime considered judicial duties inappropriate for women. As a result, Shirin was demoted to the role of a clerk in the very court she had previously presided over. This demotion led her to take early retirement.
In 1992, she established her own private law practice with a focus on human rights cases. Over the years, she represented numerous high-profile and politically sensitive cases, including: Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian- Canadian journalist who was killed in Evin Prison; Parvaneh and Dariush Forouhar, prominent political activists who were assassinated by security forces; Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, a student killed during the 1999 Tehran University protests; and Zahra Bani-Yaghoub, a young doctor who died in custody. She also served as the legal representative for seven leaders of the Baháʼí community in Iran.
These advocacy efforts culminated in her arrest in 1999 on charges of “spreading falsehoods against the Islamic Republic.” She spent 25 days in solitary confinement and was ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison and a five-year suspension from practicing law.
In 2003, Shirin Ebadi became the first Muslim woman and the first Iranian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She dedicated a portion of her prize money to establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center and to supporting the families of political prisoners. The center quickly became one of Iran’s most prominent human rights organizations and was recognized the same year by France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme, CNCDH). However, in 2008, the center’s office was raided and sealed by security forces, and its assets were confiscated.
In January 2009, shortly before Iran’s presidential elections, Dr. Ebadi traveled to Spain to attend a conference. Given the growing repression against human rights activists, the imprisonment of her colleagues, and the regime’s widespread violence against civilians, she decided not to return to Iran. Since then, she has continued her activism in forced exile. In retaliation, the Iranian government filed a case against her in the Revolutionary Court. Due to her persistent human rights activities, her personal property—including the office of the Defenders of Human Rights Center—was confiscated. Furthermore, in an apparent effort to silence her, her sister and husband were arrested and briefly imprisoned by security forces.
Dr Shirin Ebadi's
Publications
Books
Criminal Law, Tehran, 1972. Published by Bank Melli Iran. (Professor Rahnama; Professor Abdolhossein Ali Abadi)
The Rights of the Child; A study in the legal aspects of children’s rights in Iran, 1987. Translated into English by Mohammad Zamiran. Published by UNICEF, 1993.
Medical Law, Tehran, 1988. Published by Zavar Publishing.
Young Workers, Tehran, 1989. Published by Roshangaran Publishing.
Copyright Law, Tehran, 1989. Published by Roshangaran Publishing.
Architectural Law, Tehran, 1991. Published by Roshangaran Publishing.
The Rights of Refugees, Tehran, 1993. Published by Ganj-e Danesh. This book has been translated into English.
A History of Human Rights Documents in Iran, Tehran, 1994. Published by Roshangaran Publishing. This book has been translated into English.
Tradition and Modernity in Iran’s Legal System, Tehran, 1995. Co-authored by Mohammad Zamiran and Shirin Ebadi. Published by Ganj-e Danesh.
Comparative Children’s Rights, Tehran, 1997. Published by Kanoon. This book was translated into English by Mr. Hamid Marashi and published by UNICEF in Tehran in 1998.
Women’s Rights in Iranian Law, Tehran, 2002. Published by Ganj-e Danesh.
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, 2006.
The Golden Cage: Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny, 2011.
Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran, 2016. (Also published in Persian by Baran Publishing in 2018)
Articles
“Children and Family Right” – A collection of articles published in the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published by Columbia University.
“Parental Rights” – Article published in the Journal of Social Impacts of Biotechnology Studies. Published by CNRS, France.
“Women and the Legal Forms of Violence in Iran” – Article published in the Iran Foundation Journal on Violence, Paris.
Social Engagement
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Founded the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child in 1995 and chaired it until the year 2000
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Founded and chaired the Human Rights Defenders Centre in 2001
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Proposing a law to the Iranian parliament on protecting children and juveniles, (summer 2002)
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Founded and chaired the Mine Clearing Collaboration Association in 2003
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Collaboration with 6 other women peace prize laureates to fund the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006. She is a member of the board of the latter
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Conducted several research projects with the Tehran office of UNICEF
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Member of UNITAR’s board of trustees since 2007
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Teaching courses (free of charge) on the issues of children’s rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child for different groups
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Teaching courses (free of charge) on educating and promoting human rights and women’s rights Participation in many legal and human rights conferences and seminars
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Lecturing at various Universities and Institutes around the world
Professional Experience
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Lecturing Trade Law at Tehran Islamic Azad University between 1989- 1993
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Lecturing Law and Urban Planning Regulations at the Graduate and Postgraduate Schools of Fine Arts, University of Tehran between 1993-1999
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Lecturing Rights of the Women at the post graduate school of social sciences, Allame Tabatabayi University between 2001-2004
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Lecturing at Tucson University at Arizona/ US in 2005
Doctorate
- Honorary doctorate, Williams College/US, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, Liege University/Belgium, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, Brown University/US, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, University of British Columbia/Canada, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, University of Maryland, College Park/US, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, University of Toronto/Canada, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, Simon Fraser University/Canada, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, Koc University/ Istanbul, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, University of Akureyri/Iceland, 2004
- Honorary doctorate, Australian Catholic University/Australia, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, University of San Francisco/US, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, Concordia University/Canada, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, York University/Canada, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, The University of York/UK, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, Université Jean Moulin in Lyon/ France, 2005
- Honorary doctorate, Loyola University Chicago/US, 2007
- Honorary doctorate, Rutgers University Chicago/US, 2007
- Honorary doctorate The New School University/US, 2007
- Honorary doctor of Laws, Marquette University/US, 2009
- Honorary doctorate, Genova University/Italy, 2010
- Honorary doctorate, Madrid European University/Spain, 2010
- Honorary doctorate, University of Cambridge/UK, 2011
- Honorary doctorate, University of Poitier/ France, 2011
- Honorary doctorate, University of Westfield/US, 2012
- Honorary doctorate, Law Society/Toronto, June 2012
- Honorary doctorate, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London, July 2012
- Honorary Doctorate, César Vallejo University, Peru
- Honorary Doctorate, University of Lleida, Spain, May 2018
Awards and Honors
- Official Award from the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance for authoring the book Children’s Rights
- Human Rights Watch Monitor Award, 1996
- Rafto Human Rights Prize, Norway, 2001
- Nobel Peace Prize, October 2003
- International Democracy Award, 2004
- Lawyer of the Year, 2004
- James Parks Morton Interfaith Center Award, New York, 2004
- Women’s eNews “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” Award, USA, 2004
- Freedom Prize, Germany, 2005
- UCI Citizen Peacebuilder Award, USA, 2005
- Golden Plate Award from the Academy of Achievement, USA, 2005
- Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honor), France, 2006
- Honorary Citizen of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Italy, March 2007
- Named one of the 15 Champions of Democracy Worldwide, 2008
- Global Human Rights Defender Award, International Service for Human Rights, London, 2009
- Democracy Award, City of Bonn, Germany, 2009
- Manhae Peace Prize, South Korea, 2009
- Scholars at Risk Award, Dublin, Ireland, 2009
- Ronald Berger Human Dignity Award, Germany, 2009
- Human Security Award, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), USA, 2009
- Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award, Austria, 2010
- Exodus Award, Rimini, Italy, 2010
- Honorary Citizen of Paris, France, 2010
- Honorary Citizen of Genoa, Italy, 2010
- Human Rights Defenders Award, USA, 2011
- Save the Children Award, Spain, 2011
- Honorary Member, Spanish Bar Association Jury Member,
- Ronald Berger Human Dignity Prize
- A street in Poitiers, France, was named after Shirin Ebadi, 2011
- Avicenna Award, Frankfurt, Germany, May 2012
- International Human Rights Understanding Award, Ulrich Zewiener Foundation, Germany, May 2012
- Honorary Citizen of Pordenone, Italy, May 2012
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Muslim Lawyers Association, London, October 2012
- Nosside Prize, Bologna, Italy, October 2015
- Honorary Citizen of Torino di Sangro, Italy, May 2016
- Eleanor Roosevelt Medal, New York, October 2017
- IV Edition of Committed Optimists, award, Spain, May 2018