Ayaan Hirsi Ali, born Ayaan Hirsi Magan on November 13, 1969, in Mogadishu, Somalia, is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist, feminist, author, conservative thinker, critic of Islam, and former Dutch politician. Her early life was marked by significant upheaval, including female genital mutilation at age five and fleeing political instability across several countries. In 1992, she sought political asylum in the Netherlands after rejecting an arranged marriage, gaining Dutch citizenship in 1997. She renounced Islam in her early 30s to embrace atheism. Hirsi Ali entered Dutch politics with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), serving in Parliament from 2003 to 2006, where she advocated for Muslim women's rights and criticized radical Islam, drawing both acclaim and severe threats, including the murder of her collaborator Theo van Gogh in 2004 over their film 'Submission.' After resigning from Parliament amid a citizenship controversy in 2006, she moved to the United States, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2013. She founded the AHA Foundation in 2007 to combat honor violence, forced marriage, and related abuses against women, particularly in Muslim communities. She has authored several bestselling books, including 'Infidel' (2007) and 'Heretic' (2015). She collaborated on the documentary film 'Honor Diaries' (2013). She serves as a research fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2010 and at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Her work has earned her accolades like the Moral Courage Award but also sparked controversies, including accusations of Islamophobia. She has been married to British historian Niall Ferguson since 2011, with whom she has two sons. Despite ongoing security concerns, she remains a key figure in global discussions on religion, gender, and freedom.