Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, a former judge who in 1975 became the first woman in Iran to preside over a legislative court, will discuss Iran Awakening: A Story of Revolution and Hope, during a visit to the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Thursday, April 17. The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m., with free seating on a first-come basis.
Born in Hamadan, Iran, Ebadi's life began as any other. Following in the footsteps of her father, a professor of commercial law, she obtained law degrees from the University of Tehran and, upon graduating in 1969, began her career as a judge. In 1975, Ebadi became the first woman in Iran to preside over a legislative court. Four years later, with the start of the Islamic Revolution and at the behest of conservative clerics controlling the regime, Ebadi and other female judges were stripped of their authority and demoted to secretarial positions within the judicial branch.
When their protests were ignored, Ebadi opted for early retirement.
Ebadi did not return to her law practice until 1993, when she finally received the necessary permission to return to court. In the meantime, she began writing articles and books campaigning for a stronger legal status for women and children, becoming a champion of their rights in the face of the harsh Islamic regime. She has taken on numerous child abuse and anti-censorship cases, as well as established two non-governmental organizations: the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).
In 2003, Ebadi's efforts were recognized internationally as she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Iranian, first Shia, and first Muslim woman to win the prize. The Nobel committee praised Ebadi's courage, noting that she "never heeded the threat to her own safety."
Ebadi also is the author of, among other books, Democracy, Human Rights, and Islam in Modern Iran: Psychological, Social, and Cultural Perspectives (2003), as well as her memoir, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (2006).
Her lecture is co-sponsored by the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum and The Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights.