Born in Dortmund, Zekri studied history and Slavic languages at the Ruhr University Bochum. From 2001 she worked for the Feuilleton of the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). She participated in publishing a series in 17 entries Deutschland extrem, which appeared first in the die zunächst in der SZ and then as a book in 2004. From 2008 to 2011 she was the correspondent of the SZ in Moscow. From April 2011 she was the correspondent in Cairo for both the SZ and the Tages-Anzeigers, reporting from the Arabian region.Sonja Zekri: Ägypten – Zwischen Aufbruch und Abbruch lecture at the Schweizerisches Institut für Auslandforschung 13 March 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
