Salma Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek Dominguez, an oil company executive who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Hayek's father is a Mexican of Lebanese descent, while her mother is Mexican and of Spanish descent. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "safe". Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve. Salma Hayek attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana, and married her first husband Cameron Switzer. To the surprise of her family, she dropped out to pursue a career as an actress.
