58 Facts About Wasfia Nazreen

Wasfia Nazreen is a Bangladeshi mountaineer, activist, and environmentalist.

Wasfia Nazreen earlier became the first Bangladeshi and first Bengali to complete the ascent of the Seven Summits on 18 November 2015.

Wasfia Nazreen was selected in honor of her activism and commitment to empowering women through her work in the field of adventure.

Wasfia Nazreen was again selected as one of their Explorers in 2016, becoming the only woman to hold the simultaneous titles of National Geographic Explorer and Adventurer.

Wasfia Nazreen is credited in Bangladesh history as the nation's inspiration and one of the legendary women to have made a pioneering contribution.

In 2011, Wasfia Nazreen testified at the 10th session of UNPFII: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, against the continued oppression and land-grabbing of Adibashis, or indigenous people of Bangladesh, by people of her own ethnicity.

In 2023, Wasfia Nazreen was invited by the government of France and Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as one of the first cohorts of athletes to be decorated in the Hall of Fame for Paris 2024.

In 2021, Wasfia Nazreen was one of the activists to launch UNESCO's worldwide Forum on Biodiversity.

In 2019, Wasfia Nazreen was featured in UN Women's "Generation Equality" campaign.

In 2018, Wasfia Nazreen's efforts were monumental in leading and garnering international support for the Free Shahidul campaign.

Amongst other feats during Dr Alam's months-long imprisonment, Wasfia Nazreen flew a plane with a banner message "Free our Teachers" circling around the sky of Manhattan, New York City, for one and half hours calling for press freedom in Bangladesh and beyond, while the UN was holding a General Assembly and the PM of Bangladesh was inside the building.

In 2016 and 2017, Wasfia Nazreen was named by Outside as one of 40 women in the last 40 years who have advanced and challenged the outdoor world through their leadership, innovation, and athletic feats, and by Men's Journal as one of the 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years.

Wasfia Nazreen is the youngest child and only daughter of Mahmuda Nahar, a musician and teacher, and Nazmee Jahan Chowdhury, an executive at James Finlay Bangladesh.

Wasfia Nazreen lived in Khulna, where she studied at Sunflower Nursery School and afterwards at Coronation Girls' High School.

Wasfia Nazreen was trained in classical music and dance as a young child but discontinued practice after her mother, who was her first teacher, left the family.

Wasfia Nazreen was only thirteen when her parents officially divorced and she was sent off to live with her aunt, Chobi Rouf, and uncle, NAT Rouf, in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, where she was enrolled in the English-medium Scholastica school.

In high school, Wasfia Nazreen competed in volleyball and handball and was under detention for a long time, as a result of bunking academic classes to play.

Wasfia Nazreen attempted to run away on several occasions, starting from the age of 14.

Wasfia Nazreen earned a diploma in theatre from Bangladesh's Prachyanat School of Acting and Design in 2001.

Wasfia Nazreen worked in three big productions as an assistant director to Azad Abul Kalam and alongside Rahul Anand and several other members of the band Joler Gaan.

Wasfia Nazreen acted as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in high school directed and performed by the same cast.

Wasfia Nazreen went to the United States for college on her own, and at this time, she removed her family last name from all official papers.

Wasfia Nazreen pursued education and received a scholarship to Agnes Scott College, a private women's college in Decatur, Georgia.

Wasfia Nazreen left Bangladesh with the intention to pursue a double major in Theatre and Aeronautical Science.

Wasfia Nazreen worked many odd jobs during this time to support her education.

Outside the university, Wasfia Nazreen was involved with African Dance Theatre part-time.

Wasfia Nazreen describes it as a "life-altering experience" for her where "forgiving your enemies and really embodying that principle in your day-to-day life" was something that was very new to her.

For post-graduate studies, Wasfia Nazreen was a distant scholar at Samye Ling College of Scotland and pursued a Nangi Shedra in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.

In 2016, Wasfia Nazreen became the brand ambassador for Grameenphone, becoming the highest paid female athlete of Bangladesh and one of the highest paid athletes of the nation.

Wasfia Nazreen represented Bangladesh in Nepal at the closing ceremony of the two Nation's first ever Business Forum in January 2016.

Wasfia Nazreen highlighted the power of youth and the importance of sustainability and respecting nature while developing infrastructure.

In 2012, Wasfia Nazreen was chosen as the first Goodwill Ambassador of BRAC, an international development organization.

Since 2011, Wasfia Nazreen was the youth ambassador for JAAGO Foundation and its concern Volunteer for Bangladesh.

In 2011, Wasfia Nazreen was part of the Indigenous Peoples delegates at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

However, when the funding for one of CARE's long-time projects ceased, Wasfia Nazreen believed that it was crucial for the Bangladeshi people to establish their aid organizations, rather than rely solely on foreign assistance.

Since 2007, Wasfia Nazreen has been banned from returning to Tibet by the Chinese government after she was found with a photo of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Wasfia Nazreen was part of the international movement for greater freedom and better human rights conditions inside Tibet and some high-profile protests and uprisings, leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including the March to Tibet protest in solidarity with 2008 Tibetan Uprising and several concerts and other events throughout the globe.

Wasfia Nazreen was an active member of Students for a Free Tibet and the National Director of SFT in Bangladesh.

In 2018, Wasfia Nazreen was a vocal activist in the international "Free Shahidul" campaign to free the renown jailed Bangladeshi journalist Dr Shahidul Alam.

In July 2022, Wasfia Nazreen became the first Bangladeshi to scale Pakistan's notorious K2, the world's second highest mountain.

Wasfia Nazreen made a direct push from camp 3, skipping camp 4 and reached the summit at 8:55 AM local Gilgit-Baltistan time, with Mingma Sherpa and descended the mountain in a daring two-day push, with Nirmal Purja, popularly known as Nimsdai, the record shattering mountaineer and Gurkha soldier behind the movie 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible.

Wasfia Nazreen thanked the porters and other local staff of the Karakoram, alongside all Pakistani authorities who made the expedition possible, and for all the love and solidarity she received from Pakistani people.

Wasfia Nazreen initially planned to summit K2 in 2021 coinciding with the celebration of the 50 years of Bangladesh's independence, but she had to postpone due to COVID-19 restrictions.

On 26 March 2011, to celebrate 40 years of Bangladeshi independence, Wasfia Nazreen launched the "Bangladesh on Seven Summits" Campaign.

Wasfia Nazreen started trekking to base-camp of Everest on 26 March 2012 to mark Bangladesh's Independence day.

On 18 November 2015, Wasfia Nazreen reached the summit of Carstensz Pyramid, the summit of Oceania, completing a four years long journey to the Seven Summits.

Wasfia Nazreen became the first Bangladeshi and first Bengali in the world to do so.

Wasfia Nazreen became the first Bangladeshi to summit Aconcagua, South America's highest peak and the highest peak outside of Asia.

Wasfia Nazreen is the first Bangladeshi to summit Denali, North America's highest peak, Mt.

Wasfia Nazreen has several more mountains and volcanoes under her belt which she summited as a first Bangladeshi.

Wasfia Nazreen was invited by the House of Commons in UK Parliament in 2014 to share her journeys with the British Member of Parliaments.

Wasfia Nazreen is dubbed in Bangladeshi media as a fashion icon and role-model.

Wasfia Nazreen has had deep connections with many master teachers in the Tibetan traditions spanning across Tibet, Nepal and India and was given the name Karma Osel Lhamo by the Karmapa, which roughly translates as Goddess of luminous actions.

Wasfia Nazreen studied meditation with Tibetan teachers Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Wasfia Nazreen openly discusses accounts of dealing with depression and trauma as a child following her parents divorce that made her homeless as a result.

Wasfia Nazreen was diagnosed with COVID-19 and pneumonia in March 2020 and almost died.

Wasfia Nazreen was one of the first Bangladeshis to have gotten diagnosed while being abroad.

Wasfia Nazreen is often quoted in TV and other media requesting against labeling her mountaineering expeditions as a "conquering" feat due to its colonial and patriarchal nature.