He passed on to his daughter a hunger for knowledge and a questioning spirit.
At 11, she began giving TV interviews in Pakistan about girls' education.
In 2009, she started writing a blog for the BBC Urdu service under a pseudonym.
She soon became well known within Pakistan—and therefore a potential Taliban target.
But she was reassured by the thought: “Even the Taliban don't kill children.”
That optimism proved misplaced, but—miraculously, it seemed to many—Malala survived the shooting.