Here is a look at the life of Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Personal: Birth date: 1947

Birth place: Hamedan, Iran

Father: Muhammad Ali Ebadi, law professor and lawyer

Mother: Minu Yamini

Marriage: Javad Tavassolian (1975-present)

Children: Nargess (female), Negar (female)

Education: University of Tehran, law degree, 1969; University of Tehran, doctorate, 1971

Religion: Islam

Other Facts: Is the first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Is a campaigner for women's and children's rights and has published numerous books on the subject.

Worked to try to change child custody laws in Iran after 9-year-old Arian Golshani was beaten to death by her father and step-mother. Golshani's mother was not allowed to have custody of her due to Iranian laws that favor men over women.

Timeline: March 1969 - The first and only female judge in Iran.

1975-1979 - Serves as president of the city court of Tehran.

1979 - Is forced to step down as a judge after the Islamic Revolution.

May 1997 - Plays a key role in the landslide presidential election of the reformist Mohamad Khatami.

1999, 2000 - Represents families of writers and intellectuals killed.

1999 - Works to expose conspirators behind an attack by pro-clergy assailants on students at Tehran University.

2000 - Spends about three weeks in jail after a closed trial. Ebadi is given a suspended sentence and is banned from working as a lawyer for five years.

2001 - Wins the Rafto Prize in recognition of her sustained fight, over many years, for human rights and democracy in Iran.

2003 - Wins the Nobel Peace Prize for her work fighting for democracy and the rights of women and children.

2004 - Comes together with other female Nobel Peace Prize winners at the time, Wangari Maathai and Jody Williams, to work on a plan for empowering women worldwide in the fight against injustice, violence and inequality. The plan becomes the Nobel Women's Initiative.

2006 - Publishes a memoir called Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country.

2007 - Represents imprisoned American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, who was arrested on charges of threatening national security.

April 2008 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad orders police protection for Ebadi after she receives death threats.