Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl (born 23 July 1967) is a French

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and a former reporter and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for '' Glamour'' magazine. She is the widow of

Daniel Pearl Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped by Jihadism, jihadist militants while he was on his way to what he had expected wou ...

, an American journalist who was the

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Bureau Chief for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', who was kidnapped and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

ed by terrorists in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in early 2002, during the early months of the United States' War on Terror. Pearl published a memoir, '' A Mighty Heart'' (2003), about her husband and his life. It was adapted as a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

of the same name, released in 2007.

Life and career

Mariane van Neyenhoff was born in

Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine Clichy ( , ; sometimes unofficially Clichy-la-Garenne ) is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located on the Seine, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. Located in Clichy are the headquarters ...

, France, to a Cuban mother of

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

and Chinese Cuban descent and a Dutch Jewish father. Her paternal grandfather was a diamond merchant in the Netherlands. Mariane and her brother Satchi Van Neyenhoff were raised in Paris, where they both started their careers. Satchi Van Neyenhoff became a sound editor. Van Neyenhoff started in journalism as a reporter for international '' Glamour'' magazine. In addition, she had a column with the magazine, known as the ''Global Diary Column''. She explored aspects of globalization as seen through fashion and its business elements. Van Neyenhoff met American journalist Daniel Pearl in 1999, while he was on assignment in Paris. They married in August 1999 in Paris. After Pearl was promoted to South Asia Bureau Chief for ''

'', they lived for a time in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. She also traveled with him to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan, to cover aspects of the United States' War on Terrorism. In 2002, he was kidnapped after meeting a source for dinner. Pakistani militants announced the abduction. They murdered Daniel Pearl by beheading on 1 February 2002. Adam Daniel Pearl, the son of Daniel and Mariane, was born in Paris four months after his father had been murdered. Mariane Pearl is a practising

Nichiren Buddhist Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period schools ...

and a member of

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai. It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...

. Mariane Pearl's

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

, '' A Mighty Heart,'' deals with the events surrounding her husband's kidnapping and murder by Pakistani militants in 2002. United States and Pakistani agencies made efforts to capture his killers and bring them to justice. In July 2002, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British national of Pakistani origin, was sentenced in Pakistan to death by hanging for Pearl's abduction and murder. His sentence was commuted to life in jail. Three other men were convicted of their roles in the journalist's murder.

Adaptation of memoir

Her book was adapted for the 2007 film of the same name. It was co-produced by

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

, Andrew Eaton and Dede Gardner and

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

Michael Winterbottom Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—''Welcome to Sarajevo'', ''Wonderland (1999 film), Wonderland'' and ''24 ...

. The film stars

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

and Dan Futterman as Mariane and Daniel Pearl.

Daniel Pearl Foundation

Pearl is a member of the honorary board of the Daniel Pearl Foundation which was established by Daniel's parents Ruth and

Judea Pearl Judea Pearl (; born September 4, 1936) is an Israeli-American computer scientist and philosopher, best known for championing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks (see the article on belie ...

. Honorary board members have included international correspondent

Christiane Amanpour Christiane Maria Heideh AmanpourStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', 22 January 2019 (; ; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International, ...

; former US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

; Pakistani philanthropist

Abdul Sattar Edhi Abdul Sattar Edhi (; 28 February 1928 – 8 July 2016) was a Pakistani Humanitarianism, humanitarian, Philanthropy, philanthropist and Asceticism, ascetic who founded the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest ambulance network, along ...

; former president of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

John L. Hennessy; ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'' anchorman

Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is an American broadcast Journalism, journalist, best known as the News presenter, anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 y ...

;

Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al Hussein (; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who was the fourth wife and widow of Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriage on ...

;

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

professor and president of Al-Quds University Sari Nusseibeh; violinist

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

; author

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

and others.

Lawsuit

In July 2007, following the trials in Pakistan and revelations by Al-Qaeda terrorists held by the United States of participation in Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder, Mariane Pearl filed suit in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

against a dozen named terrorists and a bank that may have financed them; she was seeking damages for their alleged roles in the abduction, torture, and murder of her husband. Those named in the suit include Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, already convicted of murder and sentenced to death;

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaykh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born 14 April 1965), often known by his initials KSM, is a terrorist, and the former head of propaganda for the pan-Islamist militant group al-Qaeda. He ...

, being held by the US at Guantanamo Bay; and Habib Bank of Pakistan. On 24 October 2007, her attorneys dropped the lawsuit. Lawyers for Mariane Pearl noted that Habib Bank Limited and the other defendants in the case had not responded to the lawsuit filed in July (although Habib Bank Limited had denied ever supporting terrorism). They did not explain their reason for dropping the action. A spokesman has stated that the withdrawal was for personal reasons on the part of Pearl and should have no bearing on the merits of the lawsuit.

Recognition

She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.

Book

* '' A Mighty Heart.'' Mariane Pearl and Sarah Crichton. New York: Scribner, 2003. , .

Filmography

* '' Tout le monde en parle'' (2003) * ''The Robert MacNeil Report'' (2002) * '' American Morning'' (2002) * '' A Mighty Heart'' (2007)

References

External links

Mariane Pearl's Official Web Site

Daniel Pearl Foundation

Interview
on

Monocle 24 Monocle Radio (originally launched as ''Monocle 24'') is a mainly speech-based internet radio station, broadcasting from Monocle's headquarters at Midori House in London, England. On weekdays, the station produces three hours of live, current ...

, The Big Interview with Georgina Godwin * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Mariane 1967 births 21st-century Buddhists 21st-century French memoirists 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists 20th-century French women journalists 21st-century French women journalists French Buddhists French people of Cuban descent French people of Dutch-Jewish descent Latin–French translators Living people Members of Sōka Gakkai People from Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine