Nawal El Saadawi. Photograph: Felix Clay

This year, at the age of 80, Nawal El Saadawi was back on the streets with her fellow Egyptians in the protests that brought about the end of President Mubarak’s rule. The doctor, psychiatrist, feminist and university lecturer who has published almost 50 novels, plays and short stories first cut her teeth during the demonstrations against the British rule of Egypt.

After undergoing female genital mutilation at the age of six, and seeing the damage it could do during her work as a village doctor, she campaigned against the practice – which led to her losing her job as director general of public health.

Her writing takes on controversial issues such as prostitution, domestic violence and religious fundamentalism. Most recently her criticism of patriarchal religion led to an unsuccessful legal attempt to strip her of her nationality and dissolve her marriage