Birthplace: Capital city Kabul, Afghanistan.
Personal and Professional Life: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and is the youngest of 5 children. He spent his childhood years living in the wealthier more upper class region of Kabul called Wazir Akbar Khan, where men and women were treated and respected equally. In 1970 Khaled's father was temporarily relocated to Iran for three years, then in 1976 to Paris, France, for his job (Afghan diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry), so along went the Hosseini family to France. 3 years after their departure, the worse imaginable happened to the Hosseini's homeland. During this time was the rule of Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan, the king's cousin, who was deposed by a group led by Noor Mohammed Taraki, inflicting their communist reforms. In 1979 the government had faced opposition to its social policies, which lead to the rise of the Mujahidin. The Mujahidin was a guerilla opposition force also known as "Islamic Warriors". Returning to Afghanistan was absolutely out of the question for the Hosseini family, the war was just getting worse. Heavy artillery such as bombs and tanks were introduced, they stopped for nothing. Among all of this war was major destruction and the death of the innocent, along with violence and crime like rape and murder. The Hosseini family then had no choice but to apply for political asylum in the United States. They were essentially left with nothing. The Hosseini's worked hard to earn enough money to get by, and enough money for Khaled to enter university. In 1988 he graduated from the Santa Clara University with his bachelor's degree in Biology, received his Medical degree in 1993, and was a practicing intern at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Khaled is without a doubt, an intelligent and educationally diverse individual. Khaled Began to write in the late 90's, and his life influences such as his father lead him to the publication of his first book the Kite Runner in 2001. He won several awards such as international bestseller, and named goodwill envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Khaled founded a humanitarian assistance organization in Afghanistan known as the "Khaled Hosseini Foundation", which provides aid to refugee families, economic and education opportunities to women and children of Afghanistan. For more information regarding the Khaled Hosseini Foundation visit the home webpage.
http://www.khaledhosseinifoundation.org/index.htm
The organization is primarily based off of donations.
Khaled is deeply and profoundly affected by the hardships the Afghanistani people have beared, particularly the women. Hosseini's family lived and fought through the adversities and domination of their country, his wife too endured the wars and devistation. Khaled bases his life around helping the people of Afghanistan achieve happiness and equality by enlightening the world of the economic, political, and physical adversities his people have endured.
