Biography

Cherif Bassiouni was born on December 9, 1937 in Cairo, Egypt. He is known for Women, War & Peace (2011), P.O.V. (1988) and 60 Minutes (1968). He was married to Rosanna Cesari, Elaine Klemen-Bassiouni and Nina Delmissier. He died on September 25, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

He wrote more than two dozen books and 200 scholarly articles on subjects including juvenile delinquency, international extradition, and the Islamic criminal justice system. He was a frequent consultant to the U.S. government, including during the Iran hostage crisis that began in 1979.

He received a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Cairo. He graduated from Indiana University's law school, and received a master's degree and PhD in law, respectively, from John Marshall Law School in Chicago and George Washington University.

He was studying law in France when the Suez Crisis broke out in 1956. He returned home to fight against the Israeli-British-French attack on the Sinai Peninsula. Later he was imprisoned for speaking out against what he described as disappearances and murders occurring under the regime of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

He was a law professor who helped create the International Criminal Court in 1998, after spending decades investigating human rights abuses around the world.

I can place my little grain of sand and add to that very thin veneer of civilization. I'm a very firm believer in the incremental approach; things change because individuals move their little grain of sand.