Felicia Langer was born in Tarnow, Poland as the daughter of a lawyer. With the coming of the German Army they fled to Israel. She studied Law and became a lawyer in 1965. After the 6-days-war she gave legal assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. She helped those who faced life-threatening situations, including deportation, imprisonment, and torture. As a result of her work, the citizens of Nazareth made her an honorary citizen. In the course of three years the Intifada closed her law practice. In the 1990s she moved to Germany, with the awareness that she would face issue as a Jew whose family was killed by the Nazis. Langer taught there at the University of Tübingen.
She has received many awards in addition to the Bruno Kreisky Prize, including Erich-Mühsam-Prize in March of 2005 and the alternate Nobel Peace prize in 1990.