After two decades of bachelordom, actor and liberal political activist George Clooney is engaged. His fiancé is the former defense attorney of Julian Assange, the highly controversial editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks.

Clooney, 52, is reportedly engaged to Amal Alamuddin, 36, a Beruit-born British human rights lawyer who once represented Julian Assange when he was fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden.

The Daily Beast reports Almuddin was born to a wealthy Lebanese family in Beirut and earned her degrees from Oxford University and New York University’s School of Law, where she worked under Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In 2010, Alamuddin became a British barrister with a focus on international law. She has also served as adviser to Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN and special envoy to the Arab League in Syria.

Alamuddin’s mother is also a high-profile figure on the international scene. From The Daily Beast:

Alamuddin’s mother, Baria Alamuddin, is an award-winning journalist who has interviewed prominent heads of state, from Margaret Thatcher to Hosni Mubarak. Baria, whose looks have drawn comparisons to Liz Taylor, is foreign editor of the Lebanese newspaper Al Hayat and makes regular appearances as a Middle Eastern correspondent on CNN, BBC, Sky News, Al-Jazeera, and other news channels.

Clooney has increasingly involved himself in political activism, his most recent campaigns focusing on human rights crises in Sudan.

Images via E! Online and People Magazine.