Photo: DFID - UK Department for International Development, CC BY 2.0

Malala Yousafzai

1997 – present · age 29^[1][2]

Activism & Social Change

Fun Facts About Malala Yousafzai

• At age 11, Malala Yousafzai wrote an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu under the pen name Gul Makai, handwriting notes that a reporter scanned and emailed.^[1]
• Yousafzai was named after Malalai of Maiwand, a heroine of Afghan folklore.^[1]
• On her 16th birthday, Yousafzai spoke at the United Nations, which dubbed the event Malala Day. It was her first public speech since the attack on her, and she wore one of Benazir Bhutto's shawls.^[1]
• When Yousafzai met President Barack Obama and his family, she confronted him about his use of drone strikes in Pakistan.^[1][3][4]
• An asteroid, 316201 Malala, is named in Yousafzai's honor, and Canada made her an honorary citizen.^[1]
• Yousafzai completed a PPE degree at Oxford University, where climate activist Greta Thunberg traveled to meet her in February 2020.^[1][5][6]
• Malala Yousafzai was alive at the same time as Akira Kurosawa — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1997–1998).^[1][2][7][8]
• Malala Yousafzai shares a birthday with Pablo Neruda: both were born on July 12.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist, and producer of film and television. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving the Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17, and is the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native district, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen".^[1]

Contemporaries

Noam Chomsky

29 yr overlap

Wole Soyinka

29 yr overlap

Dalai Lama

29 yr overlap

Woody Allen

29 yr overlap

Francis Ford Coppola

29 yr overlap

Bob Dylan

29 yr overlap

Billie Jean King

29 yr overlap

Aung San Suu Kyi

29 yr overlap

Steven Spielberg

29 yr overlap

Oprah Winfrey

29 yr overlap

Rigoberta Menchú

29 yr overlap

Ai Weiwei

29 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Malala Yousafzai

When was Malala Yousafzai born?

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, and is alive today.

How old is Malala Yousafzai?

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, and turned 29 on July 12, 2026.

What is Malala Yousafzai known for?

Malala Yousafzai is known for: Youngest Nobel Prize laureate, education advocate. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist, and producer of film and television. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving the Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17, and is the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native district, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen".

Who was alive at the same time as Malala Yousafzai?

Malala Yousafzai's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 29 years.