Shirin Ebadi was the first Iranian, the third Muslim and the 11th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize award along with India’s Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Burma’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 56-year-old lawyer and human rights activist is a formidable force behind reforming family laws by calling for change in divorce and inheritance legislation. Her campaigns for democracy and greater rights for the women and children of Iran made her highly controversial in the Middle East especially when pitted against conservative clerics.

Shirin is soft-spoken on the outside but inversely tough inside. When she was jailed after coming into conflict with Iranian law, her courage manifested as she refused to be silenced. She resolutely took politically sensitive cases that earned her worldwide recognition and respect.

This Tehran University graduate who eventually became the first female judge in Iran is prone to harassment by conservative clerics and politicians. She was forced to step out as president of the Tehran city court when the Islamic republic resolved that women were not suitable for legal posts. She was detained or arrested several times but not a single authority can stop her from pursuing human rights.