Stella Assange

Stella Assange (née Sara González Devant; born 1983) is a lawyer and human rights defender. She was known as Sara Devant before changing her name several times: first to Stella Moris in 2012, later to Stella Moris-Smith Robertson, and finally to Stella Assange (due to her marriage to Julian Assange in 2022). She was born in South Africa, but holds dual Swedish and Spanish citizenship. Throughout her career, she has been an international advocate for human rights, most prominently in the case of her husband.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is González and the second or maternal family name is Devant.

Stella Assange
Photo of Stella Assange.
Stella Moris in Geneva/Switzerland, 2021
Born
Sara Gonzalez Devant

1983 (age 39–40)
Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Other namesStella Moris, Stella Assange
Citizenship
EducationSOAS University of London (BA)
University of Oxford (MS)
Complutense University of Madrid (LLM)
Occupation(s)Lawyer, Human Rights Defender
Spouse
​
(m. 2022)​
Children2

Early life and education

Sara Gonzalez Devant was born in 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Spanish mother and a Swedish father of Cuban descent. Her mother is a theatre director and her father is an architect, town planner, and artist. Both of Devant's parents were known for participating in the Medu Art Ensemble, an anti-apartheid artist collective in Botswana.[2] Throughout her youth, Devant lived in Botswana, Lesotho, Sweden, and Spain. In 1985, during a raid into Gaborone conducted by the South African Defence Force, a family friend of the Devants, Thami Mnyele, was killed. This act of state-sponsored killing left a defining impression on the Devant family.[1]

After attending an international school in Lesotho, Devant proceeded to earn a degree in law and politics at SOAS University of London, a Master's of Science in refugee law at Oxford, and a Master's in public international law while studying at the Complutense University of Madrid.[2]

Career

Devant has authored a number of articles for the independent publisher and magazine, New Internationalist.[3]

In 2011, Devant was hired by Julian Assange's legal team to help prevent his extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. These charges were eventually dropped.[4]

For the sake of additional security while working with Julian Assange, Devant changed her name to Stella Moris in 2012.[2]

Stella has been on Assange's legal team throughout his captivity, including during his asylum period in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and his incarceration in Belmarsh Prison. In reflecting on these legal battles, Stella noted that her multilingualism in Swedish and Spanish was indispensable when liasing with the Swedish and Ecuadorian authorities.[5]

Stella Moris with supporters leaving the High Court in January 2022

On October 10, 2022, Stella and thousands of others locked arms in a human chain around the Parliament of the United Kingdom to demand Assange's freedom and the cessation of any extradition attempts.[6]

In 2023, Stella met the Pope and discussed her husband's situation.[7]

Personal life and marriage

In 2015, Stella began a relationship with Julian Assange.[2][8]

During Assange's seven-year period of political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the couple conceived two children in secret, the first being born in 2017, and the second in 2019. Tracy Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort and the rapper M.I.A. are the children's godmothers.[4]

On March 23, 2022, the couple was married in a ceremony that took place in Belmarsh Prison.[9]

References
  1. Lang, Kirsty. "Julian Assange's fiancée, Stella Moris, on their secret family". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  2. "Stella Moris on her secret family with Julian Assange: 'He's unlike anyone I have ever met'". the Guardian. October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  3. "Author Details". New Internationalist. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  4. Montgomery, Allison Quinn,Blake (April 11, 2020). "Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Reportedly Fathered Two Kids While Holed Up in Embassy Fighting Extradition". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 22, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fathered two children in embassy, partner says". NBC News. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  6. "Protesters Form Human Chain Around U.K. Parliament to Demand Freedom for Julian Assange". Democracy Now!. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  7. "Pope Francis holds meeting with Julian Assange's wife". The Guardian. July 1, 2023.
  8. "Julian Assange: Wikileaks founder gets married in Belmarsh prison". BBC News. March 23, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  9. Moris, Stella (March 23, 2022). "'Today I will marry the love of my life': Julian Assange's fiancée". the Guardian. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
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