Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib

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Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib (8 August 1930 – 15 August 1975), commonly known as Begum Mujib and nicknamed Renu, was the wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding President of Bangladesh, and the mother of Sheikh Hasina, the country’s former and current leader. She was born in Tungipara, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), and married Mujibur Rahman in 1938 when she was eight and he was eighteen. The couple had five children: Hasina, Rehana, Kamal, Jamal, and Russel.

She served as the First Lady of Bangladesh during her husband’s presidency. She stayed at home during the Bangladesh Liberation War and was under house arrest until December 1971. On 15 August 1975, Fazilatunnesa and most of her family were killed during a coup at the presidential residence in Dhaka; her daughters Hasina and Rehana survived because they were in West Germany at the time.

Fazilatunnesa Mujib is remembered through memorials and institutions named in her honor, including the Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialised Hospital and Nursing College, a dormitory at Eden College, and other colleges and halls in Tangail and Rajshahi. She was honored with the Independence Day Award.