Immaculée Ilibagiza is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that took the lives of nearly one million Tutsis. Men, women and children, including her entire family except for one of her brothers, were massacred at the hands of Hutu marauders. Ilibagiza found shelter at a pastor’s home, where she and seven other women hid from the deadly rebel mob in a 3-by-4-foot bathroom for 91 days. During this harrowing time, Ilibagiza deepened her faith, learned English, and dedicated herself to a life of peace, hope, and forgiveness, even towards those who killed her family.
Ilibagiza’s first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. To date, it has been translated into 30 languages and has sold over two million copies. Ilibagiza’s story has also been made into a documentary entitled The Diary of Immaculée. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, The CBS Early Show, CNN, EWTN, CBS Evening News, the Aljazeera Network as well as in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, and many other domestic and international publications. She was recently featured in Michael Collopy’s Architects of Peace project.
Ilibagiza has received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame, Saint John’s University, Seton Hall University, Siena College, Walsh University, Duquesne University, and the Catholic University of America. She has been recognised and honoured with numerous humanitarian awards including The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace, the American Legacy’s Women of Strength & Courage Award and the 2015 National Speaker’s Association’s Master of Influence Award.
Ilibagiza has written six additional books in recent years – Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide, Our Lady of Kibeho, If Only We Had Listened, Visit from Heaven, and The Boy Who Met Jesus, and The Rosary.
A major motion picture version of her story is scheduled for international release in late 2025.
