About
Waris Dirie was born in 1965 into a nomadic family in Somalia. A victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) at age five, she fled an arranged marriage at thirteen and made her way to Mogadishu and later London. Discovered by photographer Terence Donovan in 1983, she became a model and appeared in the Pirelli calendar and the James Bond film 'The Living Daylights' (1987). In 1997, she was appointed UN Special Ambassador for the Elimination of FGM. Her autobiography 'Desert Flower' (1998) became an international bestseller. She founded the Desert Flower Foundation in 2002 to combat FGM. She received the Legion of Honour in 2007 and the Sunhak Peace Prize in 2019.
* 1965-10-21
Major works
- Desert Flower (1998)autobiography
- Desert Dawn (2002)autobiography
- Desert Children (2005)non-fiction
- Letter to My Mother (2007)autobiography
- Saving Safa (2013)non-fiction
Key milestones
- 1997Appointed UN Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation.
- 2002Founded the Desert Flower Foundation in Vienna to combat female genital mutilation.
- 2007Received the Legion of Honour (Chevalier) from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Themes
Female genital mutilationWomen's rightsAutobiographyActivismCultural identity
Sources: id.loc.gov · britannica.com · desertflowerfoundation.org