Self-immolation: A brief history

A Tunisian man who set himself on fire inspired an uprising that toppled his country's government. But he wasn't the first, or the last, to do it

Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs reported that at least 103 women set themselves on fire between March 2009 and March 2010.
(Image credit: Getty)

Market vendor Mohammed Bouazizi, 26, triggered an uprising in Tunisia last month when he set himself on fire in front of his town's municipal building. Bouazizi was distraught after police confiscated his fruit and vegetable cart, and his goal, apparently, was to protest months of harassment by authorities. (Watch an al Jazeera report about Bouazizi's suicide.) But — as other self-immolations have in the past — Bouazizi's act shocked and moved his countrymen, and the revolt that followed toppled the Arab country's iron-fisted leader, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Here, a brief history of this gruesome but powerful form of protest:

527

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us