Fatema Mernissi was born in Fez, Morocco on September 27, 1940. After completing her secondary schooling, she moved to France in 1957 to study political science at the Sorbonne. After completing her doctorate at Brandeis University, she returned to Morocco to teach family sociology and psychosociology at Mohammed V University. During her time teaching at the university, she focused particularly on gender and sexual identities within Morocco. In addition to her work as a university lecturer, Fatema also worked as a research scholar at the University Institute for Scientific Research. Her academic and research work saw her publish her first book Beyond the Veil: Dynamics in Muslim Society. Originally written as her dissertation, the work was published as a book in 1975. Because of her writings and her research, she became known across the world as a influential Islamic feminist. The majority of Fatema’s work took place in Morocco looking at women’s roles in Islam and in Moroccan society. She also wrote extensively about harems, comparing harems to stereotypical standards set by Western cultures that demand appropriate body sizes of women, which she wrote about in Size 6: The Western Woman’s Harems. Her writings and her focus on Islamic feminism inspired movements across the globe, including the founders of Musawah. Her other writings include The Forgotten Queens of Islam, Islam & Democracy: Fear of the Modern World, and Women’s Rebellion and Islamic Memory, all writings that she used to promote Islamic feminism based on her historical research. Fatema died in 2015 on 30 November in her native country.