Literature & Ideas
Distinguished
Immaculée Ilibagiza
born 1972
Genocide survivor and author of Left to Tell
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the Rwanda Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
She survived the 1994 genocide hidden in a bathroom for three months, and has spent the years since writing and speaking about forgiveness rather than revenge.
Ilibagiza was studying electrical and mechanical engineering at the National University of Rwanda when the genocide began. She was one of eight women who survived by hiding in a bathroom measuring roughly three feet by four, for three months.
Her account, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, was published in 2006. She has since worked as an author and speaker, and her subject has consistently been forgiveness.
Her account, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, was published in 2006. She has since worked as an author and speaker, and her subject has consistently been forgiveness.
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