Mohamed Atta
Atta was born on September 1, 1968, in Kafr el-Sheikh, located in Egypt's Nile Delta region. His father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, was a lawyer, educated in both sharia and civil law. His mother, Bouthayna Mohamed Mustapha Sheraqi, came from a wealthy farming and trading family and was also educated. Bouthayna and Mohamed married when she was 14, via an arranged marriage. The family had few relatives on the father's side and kept a distance from Bouthayna's family. In-laws characterized Atta's father as "austere, strict, and private," and neighbors considered the family reclusive. Atta was the only son; he had two older sisters who are both well-educated and successful in their careers — one as a medical doctor and the other as a professor.
Adan Mohammed
Aden was born to ethnic Somali parents from the garre clan, in the town of El Wak, Mandera District, Kenya. He attended primary and secondary school there. Adan was one of only two pupils at Mandera Primary School who made it to high school. He proceeded to the University of Nairobi, from where he graduated in 1989 with a first class BCom degree.