Leyla Zana
A fearless Kurdish voice who broke barriers in Turkish politics and endured imprisonment for her advocacy of peace and linguistic rights.
Born 1961 (age 65)·Kurdish politician·Birthday: May 3·Baby Boomers
Biography
Leyla Zana emerged from the heart of Kurdish struggle in Turkey, transforming from a factory worker into a formidable political symbol. In 1991, she made history by becoming the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament. Her oath of office, which included a phrase in Kurdish, ignited a political firestorm that led to her arrest and a decade-long imprisonment on charges of separatism. Behind bars, her resolve only hardened, turning her into an international cause célèbre for human rights. Awards like the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament piled up while she was incarcerated, underscoring the global outcry against her sentence. Since her release, Zana has remained a persistent, if often controversial, figure in the long fight for Kurdish cultural recognition and a political solution to conflict, her life a testament to the high personal cost of dissent.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Leyla was born in 1961, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Leyla Was Born
The biggest hits of 1961
#1 Movie
101 Dalmatians
Best Picture
West Side Story
#1 TV Show
Wagon Train
Leyla's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1961Born
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1966Started school
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1974Became a teenager
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Could drive
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1979Could vote
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Turned 21
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1991Turned 30
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 40
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 50
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2021Turned 60
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
2026Age 65 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Became the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1991.
- Awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament in 1995.
- Received the Rafto Prize in 1994 for her human rights work on behalf of the Kurdish people.
Did You Know?
She learned to read and write Turkish only after moving to Ankara as a young woman.
Her 1991 parliamentary oath included the phrase 'I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish and Kurdish peoples.'
She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times.
“I will struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.”
