Yolande Mukagasana (born 6 September 1954) is a Rwandan writer writing in French who is a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. She was a

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...

nurse and

anaesthetist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

working at a hospital in Kigali. She fled to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi; her husband, her children and many of the people she knew were killed. In Belgium, her qualifications were not recognized so she worked in a senior's residence. She later adopted some of her nieces whose parents had been killed and other Rwandan orphans. Mukagasana returned to Rwanda with Greek-Belgian photographer Alain Kazinierakis. Together, they produced the travelling exhibition ''Les Blessures du silence'', witness accounts of the genocide. They also founded Nyamirambo, point d'appui, an organization aimed at rebuilding. With the theatrical group Groupov, she wrote the play ''Rwanda 94''. She has written two autobiographical works, ''La mort ne veut pas de moi'' (1997) and ''N'aie pas peur de savoir'' (1999). She has also published a collection of stories, titled ''De Bouche à oreille'' (2003). Her first memoir, ''La mort ne veut pas de moi'', was translated into English as ''Not My Time to Die'' by Zoe Norridge in 2019. In 2002, Mukagasana received the Golden Dove for Peace Prize awarded by Archivio Disarmo.

References

1954 births Living people 20th-century women writers 20th-century writers 21st-century Rwandan women 21st-century women writers Rwandan women writers Rwandan writers in French Tutsi people {{Rwanda-writer-stub