Anja Niedringhaus facts for kids

Anja Niedringhaus (born October 12, 1965 – died April 4, 2014) was a brave German photojournalist. She worked for a big news company called the Associated Press (AP).

Anja was the only woman on a team of 11 AP photographers. They won a very important award, the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, in 2005. They won it for their amazing photos of the Iraq War. In the same year, she also received the Courage in Journalism prize from the International Women's Media Foundation.

Anja had spent many years taking pictures in Afghanistan. Sadly, she was killed there on April 4, 2014. This happened while she was covering the presidential election. She was waiting in a car at a checkpoint when an Afghan policeman opened fire.

Anja's Early Life and School

Anja Niedringhaus was born in a town called Höxter in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She started taking pictures for newspapers when she was just 17 years old. She was still in high school at the time!

In 1989, she took photos of a huge historical event: the fall of the Berlin Wall. Her pictures were published in a German newspaper called Göttinger Tageblatt.

Anja's Photography Career

Anja Niedringhaus became a full-time photojournalist in 1990. She joined the European Pressphoto Agency in Frankfurt, Germany. As their main photographer, she spent her first ten years covering the wars in former Yugoslavia.

In 2001, Anja photographed the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. After that, she traveled to Afghanistan. She spent three months there, taking pictures of the fall of the Taliban.

In 2002, she joined the Associated Press. For the AP, she worked in many different places. These included Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip, Israel, Kuwait, and Turkey. On October 23, 2005, she received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award. This award recognized her bravery and important work.

Learning More at Harvard

In 2007, Anja Niedringhaus received a special award called a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. This fellowship allowed her to study for a year at the famous university. She learned about culture, history, and religion in the Middle East. She also studied how these things affected the foreign policy of the United States and other Western countries.

The Nieman program started in 1938. It is the oldest program in the world that lets experienced journalists study at a university. These fellowships are given to journalists who have achieved a lot and show great promise.

Exhibitions of Her Work

Anja Niedringhaus's amazing photographs have been shown in many places. Her work was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, Germany. It was also shown in galleries and museums in other places, like Graz, Austria.

Her life story was even told in a movie called Die Bilderkriegerin - Anja Niedringhaus. The English version of the movie is titled Anja: Life on the Frontline.

Anja's Death

Anja Niedringhaus was 48 years old when she was killed in Afghanistan. This happened while she was covering the country's 2014 presidential election. Another AP journalist, Kathy Gannon, was also with her and was seriously injured.

The attack happened at a checkpoint outside of Khost city. Anja and Kathy were part of a group delivering election ballots. They were protected by the Afghan army and police. While they were waiting in their car, an Afghan police commander came up to their car and shot them.

See also

In Spanish: Anja Niedringhaus para niños

• List of journalists killed during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)