Ilonka Mignon M. was born in 1959 in Hamburg, Germany to a German mother. She spent her childhood in Hamburg not knowing her father was Moroccan. A strong feeling of being separate and different from her German family and friends though pervaded her childhood. At the age of 18 her mother revealed to her the name and country of her birth father. One year later she flew to Casablanca and finally met with him. This meeting with him was for Ilonka a trip into herself and to her roots. She discovered in her father and in Morocco the answers to all her questions. She felt she finally had come home! Ilonka’s passion for painting the lands of her roots stems from the deep emotional connection she felt for the land and it’s people. It is the country of her roots and her dreams. It remains for her always fascinating and endearing. Following German Gymnasium Examination (Abitur), Ilonka studies Linguistics, Literature, Spanish, English, Education, Theater and Film at the University of Hamburg and Madrid. Ilonka’s career path has been varied and interesting. After a successful career as a writer for culture magazines, she then pursued a career in the theater as a scriptwriter, dramatist, editor and theater director. In 1993 she moved into the movie and television business and has held a number of positions in the business such as script writer, writer and finally producer at Studio Hamburg. In 2001 she moved to Izmir/ Turkey for personal reasons and in 2004 to Yangon/Myanmar. In both countries she taught full time and pursues her passions of painting, theater and writing her parents love story. Both places were extremely inspiring. Now she lives in Tianjin/China where she teaches German at IST and is publishing 2 plays, a screenplay and children stories.