Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-American novelist, physician, and humanitarian, born on March 4, 1965, in Kabul, Afghanistan. His family was granted political asylum in the United States in 1980, where he later earned a medical degree and practiced as an internist for over a decade before turning to writing full-time.

Hosseini rose to international fame with his debut novel, The Kite Runner (2003), a powerful story of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against the backdrop of Afghanistan's turbulent history. It became a global bestseller and was adapted into a successful film in 2007. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), focuses on the lives of two Afghan women bound by hardship and resilience, and received widespread critical acclaim. His third novel, And the Mountains Echoed (2013), explores themes of family, sacrifice, and separation across multiple generations and continents. In 2017, he published Sea Prayer, an illustrated prose poem inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis.

A UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Hosseini established the Khaled Hosseini Foundation to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghan refugees. His works, translated into more than 70 languages, have introduced millions of readers to Afghan culture and humanity.