Stella Assange (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Sara González Devant; born 1983) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

. She was known as Sara Devant before changing her name several times: first to Stella Moris in 2012, later to Stella Moris-Smith Robertson, and finally to Stella Assange (due to her marriage to

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...

in 2022). She was born in South Africa, but holds dual Swedish and Spanish citizenship. Throughout her career, she has been an international advocate for human rights, most prominently in the case of her husband.

Early life and education

Sara Gonzalez Devant was born in 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Spanish mother and a Swedish father of Cuban descent. Her mother is a theatre director and her father is an architect, town planner, and artist. Both of Devant's parents were known for participating in the

Medu Art Ensemble Medu Art Ensemble was a collective of cultural activists based in Gaborone, Botswana during the height of the anti-apartheid resistance movement during the late twentieth century. The collective formed originally in 1977 as a group of black South ...

, an anti-apartheid artist collective in Botswana. Throughout her youth, Devant lived in Botswana, Lesotho, Sweden, and Spain. An impactful moment in Sara's life came when a family friend of the Devants, Thami Mnyele, was killed in a 1985

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

raid into

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

. This act of state-sponsored killing left a defining impression on the Devant family. After attending an international school in Lesotho, Devant proceeded to earn a degree in law and politics at

SOAS University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

, a Master's of Science in refugee law at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and a Master's in public international law while studying at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

Career

Devant has authored a number of articles for the independent publisher and magazine,

New Internationalist ''New Internationalist'' (''NI'') is an international publisher and left-wing magazine based in Oxford, England, owned and run by a worker-run co-operative with a non-hierarchical structure. Known for its strict editorial and environmental pol ...

. In 2011, Devant was hired by Julian Assange's legal team to help prevent his extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. These charges were eventually dropped. For the sake of additional security while working with Julian Assange, Devant changed her name to Stella Moris in 2012. Stella has been on Assange's legal team throughout his captivity, including during his asylum period in the

Ecuadorian Embassy in London The Embassy of Ecuador in London is the diplomatic mission of Ecuador in the United Kingdom. It is headed by the ambassador of Ecuador to the United Kingdom. It is located in the Knightsbridge area of London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

and his incarceration in

Belmarsh Prison His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category-A men's prison in Thamesmead, south-east London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds there is a unique unit c ...

. In reflecting on these legal battles, Stella noted that her multilingualism in Swedish and Spanish was indispensable when liasing with the Swedish and Ecuadorian authorities. On October 10, 2022, Stella and thousands of others locked arms in a human chain around the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

to demand Assange's freedom and the cessation of any extradition attempts.

Personal life and marriage

In 2015, Moris and Assange began a relationship and married in 2022. During Assange's seven-year period of political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the couple conceived two children in secret, the first being born in 2017, and the second in 2019.

Tracy Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort Tracy Louise Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (née Ward; born 22 December 1958) is a British duchess, environmental activist, and former actress. She is usually known as Tracy Worcester, the married style that she often used before 2017, and as an ...

and the rapper M.I.A. are the children's godmothers. On March 23, 2022, Stella married Julian Assange in a ceremony that took place in Belmarsh Prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assange, Stella 1983 births Living people Alumni of the University of Oxford Swedish women lawyers Spanish women lawyers 21st-century Swedish lawyers Swedish expatriates in South Africa 21st-century Spanish lawyers Julian Assange Alumni of SOAS University of London Spanish expatriates in South Africa Complutense University of Madrid alumni