Elisa Sednaoui

Elisa was born in Italy and raised between three countries, Egypt, Italy, and France. She spent much of her early life in Egypt. Her mother, Anna Morra, was of Italian and Syrian heritage, while her father, Olivier Sednaoui, has Egyptian, Syrian and French roots. The Sednaoui family, a Melkite Greek Catholic family of Syrian descent, finds its roots in the city of Sednaya, from where their surname originates. The family migrated to Egypt at the end of the 19th century and developed successful department stores in Cairo.

She began her professional career as a model, actress and film director, appearing in films such as Eastern Drift, Bus Palladium, Les Gamins, and The Liberator, and in fashion campaigns for brands including Chanel Eyewear, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli and Lancôme among many others.

Alongside her work in the creative industries, she later became a social entrepreneur, best-selling author and philanthropist. In 2013 she founded the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation, which later grew into Funtasia, an international initiative that develops creative learning programs for young people.

In 2022 she released her first book, Nobody Can Hurt You Without Your Permission, co-written with linguistic intelligence expert Paolo Borzacchiello, which became an instant bestseller in Italy.

Elisa is married to British-Brazilian businessman Alexander Dellal, with whom she has two sons, Jack Zeitoun Dellal (2013) and Samuel Luxor Dellal (2017).