Fighter against Female Genital Mutilation, Katoucha Niane dead at 47
.
The body of Katoucha Niane,
one of the first African women
to attain international stardom as
a model and a vocal opponent
of female genital mutilation,
was found in the Seine River,
John Leicester is reporting
Feb. 29th for the AP.
Known simply as Katoucha,
the former top model for
Yves Saint Laurent
and other top designers was
found Thursday, Feb. 28th,
near the Garigliano bridge in Paris.
An autopsy showed
no signs of foul play,
pointing to the possibility
that the 47-year-old may
have fallen accidentally into
the river, Police said.
She had been missing since
January and was last seen returning
homefrom a party.
She lived in a houseboat near
Paris’ Alexandre III bridge,
and her handbag was later
found on the boat.
The Guinean-born model told
The Associated Press in 1994
that she ran away to Europe at 17
aiming to be a model.
Her big break came when
Jules-Francois Crahay,
then the designer at Lanvin,
spotted her in a line-up.
The label hired her as a fitting model.
Her first catwalk modeling was
for Thierry Mugler at the start of the 1980s.
After quitting the runway,
she turned to speaking out actively
against female circumcision,
describing her own experience
at age 9 in a book,
“Katoucha, In My Flesh,”
which was published last year.
.
“I will never get the incomparable
pain out of my head,”
she wrote in the book,
which she dedicated to her three children.
Vanity Fair’s fashion and style director,
Michael Roberts,
said Katoucha was
“one those girls who used her fame to
spotlight the misfortunes of others.”
.
“She always seemed so
gracious and very lovely,”
he said.
“She was sunny and she was bright,
and I liked her a lot.”
Katoucha was the daughter of
Djibril Tamsir Niane,
an archaeologist and writer.
.
She said that her father
was initially disappointed that she
didn’t become
“a professional intellectual,
with a university degree,”
but later reconciled to her other successes.
.
Female Genital Mutilation
____LINKS in GREEN
Hero to abused young girls
and mother Katoucha Niane,
dead at 47.
Rest In Peace.
.
EVEN THOUGH ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE KATOUCHA PAST AWAY, I STILL WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND MY SYMPATHY AND SORROW TO THE NIANE FAMILY THAT I LOST CONTACT WITH. CONDOLENCES TO UNCLE GIBRIL, MAMA, DAUDA, FATOU AND THE REST OF THE NIANE FAMILY THAT I HAD THE PRVILEDGE TO SPEND THE SUMMER OF 1978 IN DAKAR WITH. I WOULD HOPE SOME WERE HER BROTHER DAUDA WOULD GET THIS MESSAGE AND CONTACT ME IN NEW YORK. REST IN PEACE SISTER KATOUVCHA, AND MAY GOD BLESSED YOUR KIDS AND FAMILY.
PAP EBRIMA JOBARTEH
PAP EBRIMA JOBARTEH - April 19, 2009 at 11:51 pm |