Tawakkol Karman studied at the University of Science and Technology.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
الجامعه القديمه البوابه الشماليه, Sana'a, Yemen
Tawakkol Karman studied at the Sana'a University.
Career
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2012
Madrid, Spain
Vicente del Bosque, Kim Phuc, Gervasio Sanchez, Tawakkol Karman and Ricardo Darin attend Save The Children Awards 2012 Gala at Fundacion Albeniz on September 18, 2012, in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2014
Musei Capitolini, Campidoglio, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Tawakkol Karman attends the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates press conference at Protomoteca del Capidoglio on December 11, 2014, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ernesto Ruscio.
Nobel Peace Prize 1997 winner Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 2011 winner Tawakkol Karman and Nobel Peace Prize 2003 Shirin Ebadi attend the 'Peace in the Middle East' conference under the title of 'impact of war on women and children' organized by Istanbul Aydin University Tawakkol Karman Global Peace and Democracy Center in Istanbul, Turkey on February 26, 2015. Photo by Elif Ozturk.
Nobel Peace Prize 2011 Winner Tawakkol Karman speaks during the 'Peace in the Middle East' conference under the title of 'impact of war on women and children' organized by Istanbul Aydin University Tawakkol Karman Global Peace and Democracy Center in Istanbul, Turkey on February 26, 2015. Photo by Elif Ozturk.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2015
1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Laureate Tawakkol Karman attends Clinton Global Initiative University - Fast Forward: Accelerating Opportunity for All at University of Miami on March 6, 2015, in Miami, Florida. Photo by Johnny Louis.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2015
1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States
United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Laureate Tawakkol Karman attend Clinton Global Initiative University - Fast Forward: Accelerating Opportunity for All at University of Miami on March 6, 2015, in Miami, Florida. Photo by Johnny Louis.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2015
Istanbul, Turkey
Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Tawakkol Karman speaks to the press about armed conflict between the government forces and Shiite Muslim Houthis, on January 22, 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Omar Shagaleh.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2015
Genoa, Italy
Tawakkol Karman attends Day 4 of RepIdee on June 7, 2015, in Genoa, Italy. RepIdee is a community meeting of the Repubblica newspaper with autors, writers and politicians.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2015
Balgat, Sayıştay İç Yolu No:55, 06520 Çankaya/Ankara, Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets Yemeni journalist and politician Tawakkol Karman, co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, in the foreign ministry in Ankara, Turkey on March 26, 2015. Photo by Fatih Aktas.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2016
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman, Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jose Graziano da Silva and Princess Victoria of Sweden meet at the Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters in Rome during the seminar 'Step it up together with rural women to end hunger and poverty' on December 16, 2016, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Franco Origlia.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2016
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman holds a speech at the Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters in Rome during the seminar 'Step it up together with rural women to end hunger and poverty' on December 16, 2016, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Franco Origlia.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2018
Konaklar Mahallesi ÇAMLIK CAD, Akasyalı Sk. No:6, 34330 Beşiktaş, Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Chris McGrath.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2018
Istanbul Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen speaks in front of images of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a commemorative ceremony held on November 11, 2018, in Istanbul Turkey.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2018
Konaklar Mahallesi ÇAMLIK CAD, Akasyalı Sk. No:6, 34330 Beşiktaş, Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Chris McGrath.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2018
Istanbul, Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi while speaking to the media during a protest outside the entrance to the Saudi Arabia Consulate on October 5, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Gallery of Tawakkol Karman
2019
86-90 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 7TN, United Kingdom
Tawakkol Karman and family attend The Asian Awards 2019 at Grosvenor House on April 12, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. Photo by Nicky J. Sims.
Achievements
Membership
Yemeni Journalists Syndicate
Tawakkol Karman is a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.
Awards
Nobel Peace Prize
2011
Rådhusplassen 1, 0037 Oslo, Norway
Chairman of the Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland, joint winner Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and joint winner Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf watch joint winner Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakul Karman hold up her award during the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony at Oslo City Hall on December 10, 2011, in Oslo, Norway. Photo by Ragnar Singsaas.
Chairman of the Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland, joint winner Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and joint winner Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf watch joint winner Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakul Karman hold up her award during the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony at Oslo City Hall on December 10, 2011, in Oslo, Norway. Photo by Ragnar Singsaas.
Tawakul Karman, President of Women Journalists Without Chains, at the anti-government protest site in front of Sana'a University on March 11, 2011, in Sana, Yemen. Thousands of Yemenis have been protesting around the country calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years. Photo by Jonathan Saruk.
Tawakul Karman, Yemeni journalist, activist, politician, and 2011 Nobel peace laureate, arrives for a discussion with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on December 8, 2011, in Berlin, Germany. Photo by Adam Berry.
Tawakul Karman, Yemeni journalist, activist, politician and 2011 Nobel peace laureate, arrives for a discussion with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on December 8, 2011, in Berlin, Germany. Photo by Adam Berry.
The winners of 2011 award Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman during the Nobel Peace Prize concert at the Oslo Spektrum on December 11, 2011, in Oslo, Norway. Photo by Sandy Young.
2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman from Yemen smiles during a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at United Nations headquarters on October 19, 2011, in New York City. Karman was awarded the prize for her actions during the Yemen uprising and is often called the "mother of Yemen’s revolution." Photo by Mario Tama.
Tawakkol Karman, President of Women Journalists Without Chains, at the anti-government protest site in front of the University of Sana on March 11, 2011, in Sana, Yemen. Thousands of Yemenis have been protesting around the country calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years. Photo by Jonathan Saruk.
Yemeni journalist, activist and 2011 Nobel peace laureate Tawakul Karman attends a press conference at the Centre d'Accueil de la Presse Etrangere on November 7, 2011, in Paris, France. Photo by Samuel Dietz.
Vicente del Bosque, Kim Phuc, Gervasio Sanchez, Tawakkol Karman and Ricardo Darin attend Save The Children Awards 2012 Gala at Fundacion Albeniz on September 18, 2012, in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez.
Musei Capitolini, Campidoglio, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Tawakkol Karman attends the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates press conference at Protomoteca del Capidoglio on December 11, 2014, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ernesto Ruscio.
Nobel Peace Prize 1997 winner Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 2011 winner Tawakkol Karman and Nobel Peace Prize 2003 Shirin Ebadi attend the 'Peace in the Middle East' conference under the title of 'impact of war on women and children' organized by Istanbul Aydin University Tawakkol Karman Global Peace and Democracy Center in Istanbul, Turkey on February 26, 2015. Photo by Elif Ozturk.
Nobel Peace Prize 2011 Winner Tawakkol Karman speaks during the 'Peace in the Middle East' conference under the title of 'impact of war on women and children' organized by Istanbul Aydin University Tawakkol Karman Global Peace and Democracy Center in Istanbul, Turkey on February 26, 2015. Photo by Elif Ozturk.
1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Laureate Tawakkol Karman attends Clinton Global Initiative University - Fast Forward: Accelerating Opportunity for All at University of Miami on March 6, 2015, in Miami, Florida. Photo by Johnny Louis.
1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States
United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Laureate Tawakkol Karman attend Clinton Global Initiative University - Fast Forward: Accelerating Opportunity for All at University of Miami on March 6, 2015, in Miami, Florida. Photo by Johnny Louis.
Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Tawakkol Karman speaks to the press about armed conflict between the government forces and Shiite Muslim Houthis, on January 22, 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Omar Shagaleh.
Tawakkol Karman attends Day 4 of RepIdee on June 7, 2015, in Genoa, Italy. RepIdee is a community meeting of the Repubblica newspaper with autors, writers and politicians.
Balgat, Sayıştay İç Yolu No:55, 06520 Çankaya/Ankara, Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets Yemeni journalist and politician Tawakkol Karman, co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, in the foreign ministry in Ankara, Turkey on March 26, 2015. Photo by Fatih Aktas.
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman, Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jose Graziano da Silva and Princess Victoria of Sweden meet at the Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters in Rome during the seminar 'Step it up together with rural women to end hunger and poverty' on December 16, 2016, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Franco Origlia.
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman holds a speech at the Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters in Rome during the seminar 'Step it up together with rural women to end hunger and poverty' on December 16, 2016, in Rome, Italy. Photo by Franco Origlia.
Konaklar Mahallesi ÇAMLIK CAD, Akasyalı Sk. No:6, 34330 Beşiktaş, Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Chris McGrath.
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen speaks in front of images of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a commemorative ceremony held on November 11, 2018, in Istanbul Turkey.
Konaklar Mahallesi ÇAMLIK CAD, Akasyalı Sk. No:6, 34330 Beşiktaş, Turkey
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Chris McGrath.
Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi while speaking to the media during a protest outside the entrance to the Saudi Arabia Consulate on October 5, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni politician, journalist, and women’s rights activist. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in leading a pro-democracy protest movement.
Background
Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman was born on February 7, 1979, Shara'b As Salam, Taizz Governorate, Yemen to a politically active family of Abdulsalam Khaled Karman and Anisah Hussein Abdullah Al Aswadi. When she was young, her family moved to Sanaa, where her father, a lawyer, served as minister of legal affairs before resigning in 1994 over the government’s war against secessionists in southern Yemen. She has a brother Tariq Karman, who is a poet, and a sister Safa Karman, who is a lawyer and the first Yemeni citizen to graduate from Harvard Law School and also works as an investigative journalist collaborating with Al-Jazeera.
Education
Tawakkol Karman earned a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Science and Technology in 1999, followed by a master's in political science and a certificate in general education from Sana'a University.
After completing her education, Tawakkol Karman began a career in journalism, writing articles, producing documentary films, and disseminating news alerts via text messages. When she encountered restrictions and threats from the Yemeni government, Karman and several of her colleagues founded Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005 to advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression. In 2007 Karman began staging weekly sit-ins in Sanaa to demand a variety of democratic reforms. She continued the practice for several years and was arrested multiple times for her activism.
On January 23, 2011, as a protest movement known as the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East and North Africa, shaking some of the region’s longest-standing governments, Karman was arrested after leading a small protest in Sanaa against the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of Yemen. Her arrest sparked larger protests, which soon developed into mass demonstrations against the Saleh regime. Karman, released the following day, soon became a leader of the movement, helping to set up the protest encampment on the grounds of Sana'a University, where thousands of protesters staged a sit-in that lasted for months. Her involvement in demonstrations and actions critical of the Yemeni regime has led to her arrest and murder threats on several occasions. She has promoted the struggle for democracy and human rights in Yemen at the international level, including at the United Nations.
The Turkish government offered Karman Turkish citizenship, and she received her citizenship documents from the Turkish foreign minister on 11 October 2012. Karman also was a Director of the Global Peace and Democracy Center, Istanbul Aydın University.
Tawakkol Karman has been recognized by numerous institutions and organizations in Yemen and abroad including the Yemeni Culture Ministry, as a woman pioneer in her field of activism. For her role in leading protests in 2011 during the Arab Spring, Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2011. At age 32, Karman was one of the youngest-ever recipients of the prize.
Tawakkol Karman was born and raised in Islam though she tends to express more liberal views than it is traditional for her religion.
Politics
The Society of the Muslim Brothers better known as Muslim Brotherhood party in Egypt, Al-Huriyya Wal-'Adala, has stated that Karman is a member of the movement and shares its ideology. Her father was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, and she herself is a member of the central committee of the Muslim Brotherhood's party in Yemen, Al-Islah, which is in the opposition. Even though she belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood party, she stresses that her loyalty is first and foremost to the revolution, and that she is independent in her positions. In October 2010, she did not hesitate to attack the conservatives in her party who objected to a proposed law banning marriage for girls under the age of 17.
Karman's preference of liberal over Islamist views was also reflected in her call, during an interview, for equality between Muslim Yemenis and religious minorities such as the Jews, which would include the right to run for president.
However, the week after she was awarded the Nobel Prize, Karman met with the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, in Doha, and told him that since childhood she had enjoyed reading his books. Al-Qaradawi gave her several of his writings, including his book Fiqh Al-Jihad.
Views
Like many Yemeni women, Karman once wore the niqab, which covers the face, but several years ago she switched to wearing a hijab, which covers the head but not the face. She explained that "it is inappropriate for a public activist [to wear a niqab], since people want to see you. The Islamic faith does not mandate wearing a niqab; it is [just] a social tradition." According to Karman, the fundamentalists despise her, speak out against her in the mosques, and circulate pamphlets claiming that she is not a Muslim and that she incites women to go outside their homes.
In several interviews with Al-Jazeera TV, Karman stressed that President Ali Abdallah Saleh had lost his legitimacy, and that he should be prosecuted as a murderer and as the head of a gang. According to Karman, the people of the revolution believe not in negotiations but in ousting and replacing the leader.
As early as September 2007, Karman published an article criticizing the Yemeni president, in which she asked him: "Why do you shut your ears to the cries for even the most modest of reforms?" She warned that corruption had infected even the army, which harmed its readiness, and that soldiers were suffering hunger and poverty.
After receiving her Nobel Prize, Karman said that it was the first stage in bringing President Saleh to justice, and urged the international community and the Arabs to hunt down this "leading terrorist."According to Karman, the Yemeni regime is falling thanks to the unity of the Yemenis and their insistence on freedom and democracy. She added that the people were demanding to oust the regime because President Saleh has ruled for 33 years by corruption, intimidation, terrorism, wars, and civil strife.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, Karman accused the Yemeni regime of committing flagrant human rights violations, of murdering protestors, and of involving the security apparatuses in all domains of life, even though the protestors have been nonviolent. She also criticized the regime for harassing the liberal Yemeni newspaper Al-Ayyam as part of its war on free speech, and for claiming that weapons have been found on the paper's premises. Karman wondered why, after a Yemeni sheikh had driven the residents of five villages from their homes at gunpoint, the regime had not bothered to search for weapons in his possession, yet it had done so at the newspaper's offices. Karman claimed that the president's willingness to talk to Al-Qaeda attested to the ties between his regime and this organization.
Karman has repeatedly called to keep the revolution nonviolent and has expressed her appreciation for the fact that it has remained peaceful despite the large amounts of weapons present in the country. She promised that the revolution would remain nonviolent to the end, and expressed her faith in the Yemeni people's ability to conduct a national dialogue and establish a civil, pluralistic state. Addressing claims of violent incidents during protests, she said: "There have been violations in the protest squares, especially in Sana'a. This is natural when hundreds of thousands of people [protest] for extended periods of time. However, these violations are marginal, and do not tarnish the beauty of the revolution. We see rival tribes meeting and debating in their tents, and men and women struggling [together] in the square to oust the regime."
Karman calls for the continued development of Yemeni state institutions, for the revolution to succeed, and for avoiding the instatement of another tyrannical ruler. While President Saleh was in Saudi Arabia recovering from the June 3, 2011, attempt on his life, Karman said, "Only remnants of the regime remain, and they will fall when the interim state institutions are established," adding, "The interim presidential council will take the reins from the ousted president and his regime, and the interim national council will work to hold dialogue among all the social and political elements in order to solve the problems of the country and present a clear national agenda."
As for the fear that extremist elements would seize power after Saleh's ouster, Karman said: "We take this possibility into account, which is why we have demanded that the interim presidential council represent all the national elements, in order to meet the demands of the youth and the people. We demand that the political elements suggest names to present to the youth, since we object to anyone seizing power after Saleh, whoever they may be. These fears exist in any revolution... Whenever officials stray from the straight path, the youth must be prepared to take to the streets in every province and shout: The people want to oust the official in charge, to hold the minister accountable, to prosecute the general."
Karman's views and activism have earned her many enemies, especially among regime circles. Last year, a woman attempted to stab her during a demonstration, but her supporters protected her. Karman admits that she has received many death threats, including threats to kill her children, but says that this is the fate of many and that she is prepared to sacrifice for her freedom of expression. She clarified that threats are a minor problem when many have been killed or imprisoned for the sake of the revolution. Karman also reported that President Saleh himself had phoned her brother, the poet Tariq Karman, and told him to get her under control, threatening that "whoever rebels against the regime must be killed." Tariq has denied having received any threats and said that when his sister was arrested, in January 2011, it was he who had brought about her release by speaking with the president.
Membership
Tawakkol Karman is a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.
Yemeni Journalists Syndicate
,
Yemen
Personality
Karman credits her father, a lawyer and politician, as an early influence on her strong character and courage. Her abrasive kind of personality became evident during the Arab Spring.
Interests
Philosophers & Thinkers
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi
Politicians
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton
Connections
Karman is married to Mohammed al-Nahmi. They have three children.
Father:
Abdulsalam Khaled Karman
Mother:
Anisah Hussein Abdullah Al Aswadi
Brother:
Tariq Karman
Among Karman critics was her brother, poet Tariq Karman, who reportedly accused her of collaborating with the United States.
