Asmaa Mahfouz

Biography

Asmaa Mahfouz was born on 1 June 1985 in Cairo, Egypt. She studied business administration at Cairo University and became involved in pro-democracy activism through the April 6 Youth Movement, a group that had been organising since 2008.

In January 2011, as protests were erupting across the Arab world following the Tunisian revolution, Mahfouz posted a video on Facebook and YouTube speaking directly to Egyptians. She said she was going to Tahrir Square on 25 January to demand her rights, and she called on others to come. She said that anyone who stayed home was a coward. She said she was not afraid.

The video was shared millions of times. On 25 January 2011, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians went to Tahrir Square. The protests continued for 18 days. On 11 February, President Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 30 years, resigned.

What She Fought For

Mahfouz fought for democracy, basic political rights and an end to the Mubarak regime. She was part of a generation of young Egyptians who had grown up watching corruption, poverty and political repression and had decided they were not going to accept it.

After the revolution, she continued to speak out even when it was dangerous. In 2011 she was charged with inciting violence against the military council that took power after Mubarak's fall, a charge that could have carried the death penalty. The charges were later dropped after international outcry. She continued to advocate for democracy during the turbulent years that followed the revolution.

Major Achievements

• Co-founded the April 6 Youth Movement, one of Egypt's first organised youth democracy movements
• Her January 2011 video is credited as a key catalyst for the Egyptian Revolution
• Part of the coalition of activists who ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule
• Named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World (2011)
• Recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament (2011), shared with other Arab Spring activists

Her Impact Today

Asmaa Mahfouz spoke four minutes of truth into a camera and helped bring down a dictatorship. The Egyptian political situation after the revolution became deeply complicated, and the democracy she and others fought for has not fully taken root. But what she did in January 2011 showed the world what a young woman with a camera, internet access and courage could accomplish.

Sources: Wikipedia (Asmaa Mahfouz), Time Magazine, European Parliament Sakharov Prize records, BBC Arabic