Shereen El Feki

Shereen El Feki
Born1967 or 1968 (age 58–59)
EducationUniversity of Toronto BSc (1991)
University of Cambridge MPhil and DPhil
McMaster University MD (2026 - 2029)
Occupationsjournalist, author, medical student

Shereen El Feki (Arabic: شيرين الفقي; born 1968) is a British journalist, author and medical student, most notable for her book Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World.

Early life and education

El Feki was born in Great Britain to a Welsh mother and an Egyptian Muslim father. Her mother converted to Islam. Shereen grew up in Canada, visiting her grandmother in Cairo on a regular basis. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a BSc in immunology in 1991, then obtaining an MPhil and PhD in immunology from the University of Cambridge. She is currently obtaining an MD at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, graduating in 2029.

Career

El Feki joined The Economist as a healthcare correspondent in 1998. After the 2001 WTC terror attacks, she learned Arabic and started to research the Middle East, in particular, the issues of emancipation and women's sexuality, spending much of her time in Egypt. In 2005, she left The Economist, and from 2006 to 2008, she hosted weekly shows, People & Power and The Pulse, on Al Jazeera International. From 2010 to 2012, she was vice-chairwoman of the United Nations' Global Commission on H.I.V. and the Law.

In 2013, El Feki published Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World, which has been translated into Dutch, Bahasa Indonesia, French and German, with Spanish and Arabic translations forthcoming. "Sex and the Citadel" has been nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and The Orwell Prize; El Feki's TED talk on sexuality in the Arab region has received almost 1 million views since 2014. The book surveys sexual attitudes in Egypt and the wider Arab world, and presents results of her five years of research. She concluded that taboos around sexuality are starting to be challenged in the Arab societies, and that such debates in personal life are key to change in the politics, economics and the broader public sphere. However, she warns that such change comes "by evolution, not revolution" over a generation at least. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Commission for Universal Health convened by Chatham House and co-chaired by Helen Clark and Jakaya Kikwete.

References

  1. 1 2 "Shereen El Feki: My Life in Media". The Independent. 2 October 2006. Shereen El Feki, 38
  2. ↑ "Al Jazeera's Bridge-builder Megan Easton". U of T Magazine. University of Toronto. Autumn 2006. Shereen El Feki (BSc 1991 TRIN)
  3. ↑ "Shereen El Feki". Balsillie School of International Affairs. 8 September 2026. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  4. ↑ "Back to the future: Today I started medical school, in the latest chapter of my career. Many thanks to McMaster University for giving as "non-traditional" a student as myself a chance to find my way… | Shereen El Feki | 72 comments". LinkedIn. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Voigt, Claudia (25 February 2013). "1002 Nächte". Der Spiegel (in German). 2013 (9): 132–133. ISSN 0038-7452.
  6. 1 2 "Shereen El Feki: My Life in Media". The Independent. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  7. ↑ Easton, Megan (Autumn 2006). "Al Jazeera's Bridge-builder: Shereen El Feki is host of current affairs show, People and Power". UofTMagazine. University of Toronto. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Shereen El Feki | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  9. ↑ El Feki, Shereen. "A little-told tale of sex and sensuality". TED. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Commission for Universal Health, chathamhouse.org. Accessed 11 December 2023.

Sources