Arab feminist and sociologist, Fatima Mernissi, dies aged 75

Feminist and sociologist Fatima Mernissi (Fes, 1940) died aged 75 yesterday in a Rabat clinic after suffering from a three-year illness. Merinissi was considered one of the key figures of Arab sociology and feminism and was one of the Maghrib intellectuals who was best-known in western countries.

Historian, essayist, doctor of sociology, Unesco adviser and professor at the institute of scientific research in the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Mernissi was well-known for her defence of women's rights, particularly in Muslim societies. She was also the author of many books, including some that have become classics, such as Islam and Democracy, Beyond the Veil and The Veil and the Male Elite.

In 2003, she was awarded, jointly with US intellectual Susan Sontag, the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de Comunicación y Humanidades (since 2014 known as the Premio Princesa de Asturias de las Letras). In that same year, she was invited to read out the address at the inauguration of the Festes de la Mercè in Barcelona.

In her work, Mernissi defended humanist concepts, arguing that women should use words as their main weapon in achieving equality and revolution.