Sharbat Gula biography: 13 things about Pashtun orphan who graced National Geographic cover twice

Who is Sharbat Gula?

Sharbat Gula is an Afghan woman living in Italy. Born in Nangarhar, Afghanistan to a Pashtun family, she has three sisters and a brother named Kashar Khan.

Gula is the woman in the National Geographic photo titled “Afghan Girl.” Here are 13 more things about her:

1. Her husband Rahmat Gul was a baker.
2. She and Gul have one son, three daughters namely Robin Gula, Zahid Gula and Alyan Gula and another daughter who died shortly after birth.
3. In 1978, her parents were killed as Soviet helicopters attacked her village in Afghanistan so she, her four siblings and their grandmother fled to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan.
4. In 1984, National Geographic photojournalist Steve McCurry, then 34, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States photographed her and other girls while she was attending an informal school at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp amid the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
5. In 1985, she and Gul got married.
6. In 1989, she gave birth to Robin.
7. In 1999, she gave birth to Zahid.
8. In 1992, she returned to Afghanistan.
9. In 2001, she gave birth to Alyan.
10. McCurry did not know her name until they were reunited in 2002.
11. In 2012, her husband died from hepatitis C and poet Gjertrud Schnackenberg, then 41, of Tacoma, Washington, USA started composing a work inspired by her.
12. In 2017, the New England Review published Schnackenberg’s work titled “Afghan Girl”, which was inspired by her.
13. On March 20, 2025, she turned 52.

TIMELINE

1985

• Without her knowledge, her photo McCurry took in 1984 appeared on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic. The photo was titled “Afghan Girl.”

2002

• In January 2002, a National Geographic team led by McCurry travelled to Afghanistan to find her. After encountering several women falsely claiming to be her and several men erroneously claiming to be married to her, the team tracked her down in the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It was the first time she saw the “Afghan Girl” photo and learned about National Geographic’s June 1985 cover.
• She was featured in the “National Geographic Explorer” episode that aired on March 15, 2002.
• In April 2002, she graced the cover of National Geographic again. According to the magazine, she does not know her exact age but she was likely 28, 29 or 30 when McCurry found her in January 2002. She told the magazine she married Gul when she was 13 but he said she was 16 at the time.

2003

• She and McCurry were featured in Lawrence Cumbo‘s film “Search for the Afghan Girl”, which was released in the U.S. on March 9, 2003.

2014

• In April 2014, she allegedly applied for an identity card in Pakistan using the name Sharbat Bibi.

2015

• Finnish metal band Nightwish dedicated an instrumental work to her titled “The Eyes of Sharbat Gula.” It was included in the band’s eighth studio album titled “Endless Forms Most Beautiful“, which was released on March 25, 2015.

2016

• On October 26, 2016, she was arrested in Pakistan by the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for holding fake identity papers. After learning her arrest, McCurry took to Instagram to share the “Afghan Girl” photo. In the caption, he wrote in part, “I am committed to doing anything and everything possible to provide legal and financial support for her and her family.” After spending 15 days in prison and eight days in the hospital, she was deported to Afghanistan where the government promised to take care of her family housing, education and health.

2017

• In January 2017, she told BBC that the “Afghan Girl” photo created more problems than benefits and made her famous but also led to her imprisonment. However, she said she was proud that the income from the photo helped many widows and orphans. She repeated that she was 13 years old when she got married and she was 10 years old when McCurry photographed her in 1984.
• In November 2017, she received a 3,000-square-foot house and a $700 per month stipend for living and medical costs from the Afghan government, according to National Geographic.

2021

• On November 25, 2021, it was confirmed that Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi granted her refugee status and she had arrived in Rome, Italy.

2022

• She was featured in Denis Delestrac’s documentary “McCurry: The Pursuit of Colour”, which was released in Spain on June 3, 2022.