Malala Yousafzai Fast Facts CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the life of education activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Malala Yousafzai. Personal Birth place: Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan Father: Ziauddin Yousafzai, educator and activist Mother: Toorpekai Yousafzai Other Facts Her name means “grief stricken.” An asteroid, 2010 ML48, was officially named “316201 Malala” after her. Timeline September 1, 2008 – At a local press club in Peshawar, Yousafzai gives her first speech, “How Dare the Taliban Take Away my Basic Right to Education?” in protest of school closings. January-March 2009 – Yousafzai, using the pen name Gul Makai, blogs for the BBC about her life under Taliban rule.