Manama: Fatima Mernissi, the Moroccan sociologist and feminist who in 2011 was selected among the most powerful women activists and campaigners in the world, has died.
Reports in Morocco said that Fatima, lauded for her work on civil society, democracy and the digital revolution, died early on Monday. She was 75.
Born in 1940, in Fes, Fatima grew up deep in the traditions that prevailed at the time in Morocco.
Fatima studied political science at Sorbonne University in Paris and earned her doctorate in sociology in 1974 in the US.
She opted to return home where she took a post at Mohammad V University in Rabat and taught methodology, family sociology and psychosociology at the Faculté des Lettres.
She gradually became known for her significant work in literature and her books, starting with Beyond the Veil, caused storms and controversies, but earned the campaigner for women’s rights international attention and support.
In her work, she focused on local attitudes related to women and work, and published more than 15 books.
Fatima was praised for her ability to deconstruct views on women-related topics and then make them more relevant in an Islamic context.
