Camila Batmanghelidjh

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Camila Batmanghelidjh

Camila Batmanghelidjh receiving her honorary doctorate from the Open University in April 2008
Born 1963
Tehran, Iran
Known for Businesswoman, author and philanthropist

Camila Batmanghelidjh ("Batmanjelidge", born 1963, Tehran, Iran) is an English businesswoman, charity leader and author of Iranian and Belgian origin. She has been living in England since the age of 11[1] and founded two charities - the place2b[2] and Kids Company where she and her team care for 14,000 vulnerable children and young people in London. The charity operates from three street level centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools. She lives in West Hampstead.[3]

[edit] Background

Batmanghelidjh was born in Tehran into a wealthy professional family. Her mother was a Roman Catholic from Belgium, while her Muslim, Persian father was the highly controversial doctor Fereydoon Batmanghelidj.[4][5] Her family were supporters of the Shah and so hugely impacted by the 1979 revolution. She moved to England when she was 11 years old. She attended the fee paying Sherborne Girls school in Dorset, where she claims "everybody thought I was completely odd. Y'know they just thought I was a total oddball".[6]

She went on to gain a first in Theatre and Dramatic Arts from the University of Warwick.[7]

Severely dyslexic[8], she has to dictate everything and cannot use a computer or text. [9] She has been described as "Britain's most colourful charity leader".[10] In 2009 the Women in Public Life Awards named her Businesswoman of the Year.[11]

She is well known for her eccentric and flamboyant dress sense:

"it takes me probably 5 minutes to get dressed. I don't think about it at all... But the way I dress matches my psychological energy, so when I get up in the morning I think 'What colour do I want to wear today?' and I just bung it on really quickly and get out. I don't worry about what people think at all... And it's instantaneous - I instantly know what fabrics go together and what doesn't - and it's just instinctive."[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "How to Make a Difference". Howtomakeadifference.net. 2009-08-03. http://howtomakeadifference.net/2009/08/camila-batmanghelidjh. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
  2. ^ http://www.theplace2be.org.uk/
  3. ^ As she stated on BBC Questiontime, 11 August 2011
  4. ^ Camila Batmanghelidjh (1963 – )
  5. ^ "Interview with Camila Batmanghelidjh". bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/camila_batmanghelidjh.html. 
  6. ^ BBC interview
  7. ^ http://ukinalbania.fco.gov.uk/en/visit-uk/london-2012-olympics/see-britain/camila-batmanghelidjh
  8. ^ Colourful character: Camila Batmanghelidjh on her unique approach to charity work, The Independent, 2009-01-03, retrieved 2011-08-10
  9. ^ Transcript of Interview with Camila Batmanghelidjh, BBC Belief, retrieved 2011-08-10
  10. ^ Orr, Deborah (3 January 2009). "Colourful character: Camila Batmanghelidjh on her unique approach to charity work". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/colourful-character-camila-batmanghelidjh-on-her-unique-approach-to-charity-work-1219607.html. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
  11. ^ "Past winners 2009". Womeninpubliclifeawards.co.uk. http://www.womeninpubliclifeawards.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=1:past-winners-2009&Itemid=9&layout=default. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/camila_batmanghelidjh.html

[edit] External links

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