85-year-old Pillay, who was awarded the prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for her efforts in the development of peace and international law, is known for her legal struggle against racism and gender discrimination in her country.
From slums to Harvard
According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent, Pillay was born on September 23, 1941, in the Clairwood district of Durban, to a family of Indian Tamil origin. Her father was a bus driver and her mother was a housewife.
Pillay's university education, whose grandparents were brought to South Africa to work in sugar cane fields, was supported by donations collected from neighborhood residents at the initiative of his teachers.
Pillay, who received a bachelor's degree from the University of Natal in 1963 and a law degree in 1965, completed his master's degree in law at Harvard in 1982 and his doctorate in legal sciences in 1988.
Pillay became the first South African to receive a doctorate in legal sciences from Harvard University Law School.
Advocate for opponents of apartheid
Pillay, who was not hired by white law firms, became the first woman of color to open her own practice in Natal in 1967.
Pillay, who took on the defense of anti-apartheid activists and trade unionists, brought the torture and isolation practices of political prisoners to the courts.
Pillay, who also defended his wife Gaby Pillay, who was detained by the security police, ensured that political prisoners on Robben Island, including Nelson Mandela, gained the right to access a lawyer in 1973.
According to his biography published by his university, Pillay, who was not allowed to enter judges' chambers during his 28-year career as a lawyer, was appointed as a high court judge in South Africa in 1995.
Contribution to historical decisions in Rwanda
Pillay, who was elected to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the same year, served as the President of the Court between 1999 and 2003.
Pillay was part of the three-judge panel that handed down the first genocide conviction of an international court against former Mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu in 1998.
The decision set a precedent in international law by establishing that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute genocide when committed with the aim of destroying the targeted group.
Pillay also chaired the committee that decided in 2003 in the trial of people who incited genocide through media broadcasts in Rwanda.
From women's rights to the UN
Pillay, who was among the founders of the women's rights organization Equality Now in 1992, contributed to the inclusion of the equality clause prohibiting discrimination in the South African Constitution.
Pillay, who was elected among the first judges of the International Criminal Court in 2003, served in the Appeals Chamber until 2008.
As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights between 2008 and 2014, Pillay worked on the protection of civilians, women's and minority rights, and the investigation of human rights violations.
Commission investigating genocide in Gaza
In 2021, Pillay was appointed head of the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
In its review published on September 16, 2025, the Commission concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
Emphasizing the obligation of states to prevent genocide, Pillay evaluated inaction in the face of clear evidence as complicity.
Pillay, who will continue his chairmanship of the commission until November 2025, called on the international community to take action to stop the genocide in Gaza.
Judgeship in Myanmar case
Since 2019, Pillay has served as a case-specific judge at the International Court of Justice in Gambia's case against Myanmar over allegations of genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
Pillay, who received the Sydney Peace Prize in 2025, was also awarded the Olof Palme Award with jurist John Dugard in 2026.
Pillay became the fifth South African to win the Nobel Peace Prize, after Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk.
