Ebru Umar (; ; born 20 May 1970) is a Dutch columnist of Turkish descent. Under the influence of Theo van Gogh, she gave up a career in management and became a columnist, first for van Gogh's website and, after he was assassinated, as his successor as a regular columnist of ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

''. She writes for a number of Dutch magazines and has published four books, often on the topics of feminism and criticism of Islam.

Biography

Umar is the child of Turkish parents who came to the Netherlands in 1970. Her father is a retired anatomic pathologist, her mother an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

. She grew up in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

and attended the

Gymnasium Erasmianum The Gymnasium Erasmianum is a school in Rotterdam (also known under its Dutch name "Erasmiaans Gymnasium"). History Founded in 1328, it is the second oldest school in the Netherlands with recorded date of establishment (after the Johan de Witt- ...

. After studying management and working for a while as a manager, she began writing, under the influence of Theo van Gogh, and wrote columns for his website (van Gogh was her "friend and mentor"), and soon began writing for a number of other Dutch newspapers. In 2005 she took over van Gogh's column in ''

''. Umar is also the author of four books, and writes a weekly column for the Dutch women's weekly magazine ''

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'' (in addition to doing interviews and panel discussions for the magazine) and for the Dutch feminist magazine '' Opzij''. Umar, an atheist, has a reputation for outspokenness, a characteristic her parents say she has had from an early age. In 2006 she was beaten outside her apartment in Amsterdam by two attackers.

Arrest in Turkey

On April 23, 2016, Umar was arrested in her holiday apartment in the Turkish town of Kuşadası, which she has said was for posting tweets that were critical of Turkish president Erdoğan. She was then released but not allowed to leave Turkey. On April 24, 2016, her home in Amsterdam was burglarized and vandalized.

Bibliography

* ''Burka & Blahniks'' (2004) * ''Vier over 8'' (2005) * ''Geen talent voor de liefde'' (2005), diary-style reminiscences * ''Turkse verleidingen'' (2008), a collection of travel stories set in Turkey

References

External links

*
Ebru Umar on ''Libelle''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umar, Ebru 1970 births Living people Critics of multiculturalism Dutch atheists Dutch bloggers Dutch women bloggers Dutch columnists Dutch women columnists Dutch critics of Islam Dutch opinion journalists Dutch former Muslims Dutch people of Turkish descent Dutch political writers Dutch political commentators Dutch republicans Dutch people imprisoned abroad Free speech activists Freedom of expression in Turkey Censorship in Turkey Social critics Cultural critics Dutch women critics Writers from The Hague Journalists imprisoned in Turkey Former Muslim critics of Islam