Camila Batmanghelidjh
Encyclopedia
Camila Batmanghelidjh is a British businesswoman, charity leader and author of Iran
ian and Belgian origin. She has been living in England since the age of 11 and founded two charities - the place2b and Kids Company
where she and her team care for 14,000 vulnerable children and young people in London. The charity operates from three street level centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools. She lives in West Hampstead
.
. Her family were supporters of the Shah
and so hugely impacted by the 1979 revolution. She moved to England
when she was 11 years old. She attended the fee paying Sherborne Girls school in Dorset, where she claims "everybody thought I was completely odd. Y'know they just thought I was a total oddball".
She went on to gain a first in Theatre and Dramatic Arts from the University of Warwick
.
Severely dyslexic, she has to dictate everything and cannot use a computer or text. She has been described as "Britain's most colourful charity leader". In 2009 the Women in Public Life Awards named her Businesswoman of the Year.
She is well known for her eccentric and flamboyant dress sense:
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian and Belgian origin. She has been living in England since the age of 11 and founded two charities - the place2b and Kids Company
Kids Company
Kids Company is a charity organisation that works with young ex-offenders and disadvantaged children through inner-city schools in London, a drop-in centre in Camberwell, and the Urban Academy in Southwark...
where she and her team care for 14,000 vulnerable children and young people in London. The charity operates from three street level centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools. She lives in West Hampstead
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England, situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, and South Hampstead to the south. Until the late 19th century, the locale was a small village called West End...
.
Background
Batmanghelidjh was born in Tehran into a wealthy professional family. Her mother was a Roman Catholic from Belgium, while her Muslim, Persian father was the highly controversial doctor Fereydoon BatmanghelidjFereydoon Batmanghelidj
Fereydoon Batmanghelidj was born in Tehran, Iran. He was best known for his book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water, and his writings related to health and wellness. His ideas have not been adopted by the medical community....
. Her family were supporters of the Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
and so hugely impacted by the 1979 revolution. She moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
when she was 11 years old. She attended the fee paying Sherborne Girls school in Dorset, where she claims "everybody thought I was completely odd. Y'know they just thought I was a total oddball".
She went on to gain a first in Theatre and Dramatic Arts from the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
.
Severely dyslexic, she has to dictate everything and cannot use a computer or text. She has been described as "Britain's most colourful charity leader". In 2009 the Women in Public Life Awards named her Businesswoman of the Year.
She is well known for her eccentric and flamboyant dress sense:
- "it takes me probably 5 minutes to get dressed. I don't think about it at all... But the way I dress matches my psychological energy, so when I get up in the morning I think 'What colour do I want to wear today?' and I just bung it on really quickly and get out. I don't worry about what people think at all... And it's instantaneous - I instantly know what fabrics go together and what doesn't - and it's just instinctive."