List of women pacifists and peace activists

This is a list of women pacifists and peace activists by nationality – notable women who are well known for their work in promoting pacifism.

International Congress of Women in 1915. left to right:1. Lucy Thoumaian - Armenia, 2. Leopoldine Kulka, 3. Laura Hughes - Canada, 4. Rosika Schwimmer - Hungary, 5. Anita Augspurg - Germany, 6. Jane Addams - USA, 7. Eugenie Hanner, 8. Aletta Jacobs - Netherlands, 9. Chrystal Macmillan - UK, 10. Rosa Genoni - Italy, 11. Anna Kleman - Sweden, 12. Thora Daugaard - Denmark, 13. Louise Keilhau - Norway

Introduction

Women have been active in peace movements since the 19th century. After the First World War broke out in 1914, many women's organizations became involved in peace activities. In 1915, the International Congress of Women in the Hague brought together representatives from women's associations in several countries, leading to the establishment of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.[1] This in turn led to national chapters which continued their work in the 1920s and 1930s. After the Second World War, European women once again became involved in peace initiatives, mainly as a result of the Cold War, while from the 1960s the Vietnam War led to renewed interest in the United States.[2]

Armenia

• Lucy Thoumaian (1890–1940) – Armenian women's rights and peace activist

Australia

• Eva Bacon (1909–1994) – Australian socialist, feminist, pacifist
• Doris Blackburn (1889–1970) – Australian social reformer, politician, pacifist
• Helen Caldicott (born 1938) – Australian physician, anti-nuclear activist, revived Physicians for Social Responsibility, campaigner against the dangers of radiation
• Margaret Holmes, AM (1909–2009) – Australian activist during the Vietnam War, member Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
• Isabel Longworth (1881–1961) – Australian dentist and peace activist
• Ciaron O'Reilly (born 1960) – Australian pacifist, anti-war activist, Catholic Worker, served prison time in America and Ireland for disarming war material
• Nancy Shelley OAM (died 2010) – Quaker who represented the Australian peace movement at the UN in 1982
• Barbara Grace Tucker – Australian peace activist, long time participant of London's Parliament Square Peace Campaign
• Jo Vallentine (born 1946) – Australian politician and peace activist

Austria

• Hildegard Goss-Mayr (born 1930) — Austrian pacifist and theologian
• Leopoldine Kulka (1872–1920) – Austrian writer, editor and pacifist
• Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914) – Czech-Austrian pacifist, first woman Nobel peace laureate

Botswana

• Malebogo Molefhe (born c.1980) – Botswanan activist against gender-based violence

Belgium

• Léonie La Fontaine (1857–1949) – Belgian feminist and pacifist

Bulgaria

• Ekaterina Karavelova (1860–1947) – Bulgarian educator, writer, suffragist, feminist, pacifist

Canada

• Edith Ballantyne (born 1922) – Czech-Canadian peace activist
• Christine Ross Barker (1866–1940) – Canadian pacifist and suffragist
• Alice Amelia Chown (1866–1949) – Canadian feminist, pacifist and writer
• Muriel Duckworth (1908–2009) – Canadian pacifist, feminist and community activist, founder of Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace
• Mildred Fahrni (1900–1992) – Canadian pacifist, feminist, internationally active in the peace movement
• Ursula Franklin (1921–2016) – German-Canadian scientist, pacifist and feminist, whose research helped end atmospheric nuclear testing
• Rae Luckock (1893–1972) – Canadian feminist, peace activist and politician
• Simonne Monet-Chartrand (1919–1993) – Canadian women's rights activist, feminist, pacifist
• Alaa Murabit (born 1989) – Libyan-Canadian physician and human rights advocate for inclusive peace and security
• Harriet Dunlop Prenter (fl. 1921) – Canadian feminist, pacifist
• Setsuko Thurlow (born 1932) – Japanese-Canadian non-nuclear weapon activist, figure of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• Julia Grace Wales (1881–1957) – Canadian academic and pacifist

Colombia

• Yolanda Becerra (born 1959) – Colombian feminist and peace activist

Denmark

• Matilde Bajer (1840–1934) – Danish feminist and peace activists
• Henriette Beenfeldt (1878–1949) – radical Danish peace activist
• Benny Cederfeld de Simonsen (1865–1952) – Danish peace activist
• Thora Daugaard (1874–1951) – Danish feminist, pacifist, journal editor and translator
• Henni Forchhammer (1863–1955) – Danish educator, feminist and pacifist
• Eline Hansen (1859–1919) – Danish feminist and peace activist
• Estrid Hein (1873–1956) – Danish ophthalmologist, women's rights activist and pacifist
• Ellen Hørup (1871–1953) – Danish writer, pacifist and women's rights activist
• Johanne Meyer (1838–1915) – pioneering Danish suffragist, pacifist and journal editor
• Eva Moltesen (1871–1934) – Finnish-Danish writer and peace activist
• Louise Nørlund (1854–1919) — Danish feminist and peace activist
• Clara Tybjerg (1864–1941) — Danish feminist, peace activist and educator
• Louise Wright (1861–1935) – Danish philanthropist, feminist and peace activist

Finland

• Maikki Friberg (1861–1927) – Finnish educator, journal editor, suffragist and peace activist
• Lucina Hagman (1853–1946) – Finnish feminist, politician, pacifist

France

• Marcelle Capy (1891–1962) – French novelist, journalist, pacifist
• Gabrielle Duchêne (1870–1954) – French feminist and pacifist
• Solange Fernex (1934–2006) – French peace activist and politician
• Suzanne Grinberg (1899–1972) - French lawyer, pacifist, suffragist and writer
• France Hamelin (1918–2007) – French artist, peace activist and resistance worker
• Germaine Malaterre-Sellier (1889–1967) – French nurse, suffragist and pacifist
• Jeanne Mélin (1877–1964) – French pacifist, feminist, writer and politician
• Maria Pognon (1844–1925) – French writer, feminist, suffragist and pacifist
• Marie-Louise Puech-Milhau (1876–1966) – French pacifist, feminist and journal editor
• Madeleine Vernet (1878–1949) – French educator, writer and pacifist

Germany

• Anita Augsburg – German lawyer, writer, feminist, pacifist
• Gertrud Baer (1890–1981) – German Jewish peace activist, and a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• Hedwig Dohm (1831–1919) – German feminist, writer, pacifist
• Lida Gustava Heymann (1868–1943) – German feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist
• Petra Kelly (1947–1992) – German politician, feminist, pacifist
• Annette Kolb (1870–1967) – German writer and pacifist
• Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) – German marxist and anti–war activist
• Renate Riemeck (1920–2003) – German historian and Christian peace activist
• Sophie Scholl (1921–1943) – German Christian pacifist, active in the White Rose non-violent resistance movement in Nazi Germany
• Margarethe Lenore Selenka (1860–1922) – German zoologist, feminist and pacifist
• Clara Zetkin (1857–1933) - German Maxist, feminist and pacifist

Guatemala

• Rigoberta Menchú (born 1959) – Guatemalan indigenous rights, anti-war, co-founder Nobel Women's Initiative, Nobel Peace Prize recipient

Hungary

• Vilma Glücklich (1872–1927) – Hungarian educator, pacifist and women's rights activist
• Rosika Schwimmer (1877–1948) – Hungarian pacifist, feminist and suffragist

India

• Kirthi Jayakumar (born 1987) – Indian peace activist and gender equality activist, youth peace activist, peace educator and founder of The Red Elephant Foundation
• Gurmehar Kaur (born 1996) – Indian student and peace activist
• Mother Teresa (1910–1997) – Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun, missionary, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
• Medha Patkar (born 1954) – Indian activist for Tribals and Dalits affected by dam projects
• Manasi Pradhan (born 1962) – Indian activist; founder of Honour for Women National Campaign
• Arundhati Roy (born 1961) – Indian writer, social critic and peace activist
• Bina Sarkar (born 1949) - Indian poet, cultural practitioner, editor & publisher, peace activist

Iran

• Shirin Ebadi (born 1947) – Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, Nobel peace laureate

Iraq

• Nadia Murad (born 1993) – Iraqi human rights activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Ireland

• Caoimhe Butterly (born 1978) – Irish peace and human rights activist
• Helen Chenevix (1886–1963) – Irish suffragist, trade unionist, pacifist
• Molly Childers (1875–1964) – Irish writer, nationalist, pacifist
• Margaretta D'Arcy (born 1934) - Irish actress, writer and peace activist
• Adi Roche (born 1955) – Irish activist, chief executive of the charity Chernobyl Children International
• Lilian Stevenson (1870–1960) - Irish peace activist and historiographer

Israel

• Marcia Freedman (born 1938) - American-Israeli peace activist, feminist and supporter of gay rights
• Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005) – Israeli poet and peace activist
• Ada Yonath (born 1939) – Israeli Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2009, pacifist

Italy

• Alaide Gualberta Beccari (1842–1906) – Italian feminist, pacifist and social reformer
• Rosa Genoni (1867–1954) – Italian fashion designer, feminist, pacifist
• Linda Malnati (1855––1921), influential women's rights activist, trade unionist, suffragist, pacifist and writer

Ivory Coast

• Aya Virginie Toure – Ivorian peace activist, proponent of non-violent resistance

Japan

• Marii Hasegawa (1918–2012) – Japanese peace activist
• Raichō Hiratsuka (1886–1971) – Japanese writer, political activist, feminist, pacifist
• Tano Jōdai (1886–1982) – Japanese English literature professor, peace activist and university president
• Shina Inoue Kan (1899–c.1968) – Japanese academic, women's rights activist and pacifist
• Yosano Akiko (1878–1942) – Japanese writer, feminist, pacifist

Kenya

• Wangari Maathai (1940–2011) – Kenyan environmental activist, Nobel peace laureate

Lebanon

• Lydia Canaan – Lebanese singer, first rock star of the Middle East, risked life to perform under military attack in protest of Lebanese Civil War

Liberia

• Comfort Freeman – Liberian anti-war activist
• Leymah Gbowee (born 1972) – Liberian peace activist, organizer of women's peace movement in Liberia, awarded 2011 Nobel Peace Prize
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938) – President of Liberia, shared 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Tawakkol Karman and Leymah Gbowee in recognition of "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work"

Lithuania

• Gabrielle Radziwill (1877–1968), Lithuanian pacifist, feminist and League of Nations official

Myanmar

• Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) – Burmese politician, author, Nobel Peace Prize recipient

Netherlands

• Mia Boissevain (1878–1959) – Dutch zoologist, feminist and pacifist
• Suze Groeneweg (1875–1940) - Dutch politician, feminist and pacifist
• Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) – Dutch physician, feminist and peace activist
• Rosa Manus (1881–1942) – Dutch pacifist and suffragist
• Selma Meyer (1890–1941) – Dutch pacifist and resistance fighter of Jewish origin
• Cornelia Ramondt-Hirschmann (1871–1957) – Dutch teacher, feminist and pacifist
• Titia van der Tuuk (1854–1939) – Dutch feminist and pacifist
• Krista van Velzen (born 1974) – Dutch politician, pacifist and antimilitarist
• Mien van Wulfften Palthe (1875–1960) – Dutch feminist, suffragist and pacifist

New Zealand

• Miriam Soljak (1879–1971) – New Zealand feminist, rights activist and pacifist

Norway

• Elise M. Boulding (1920–2010) – Norwegian-born American sociologist, specialising in academic peace research
• Ingrid Fiskaa (born 1977) - Norwegian politician and peace activist
• Martha Larsen Jahn (1875–1954) – Norwegian peace activist and feminist
• Louise Keilhau (1860–1927) – Norwegian teacher and pacifist
• Sigrid Helliesen Lund (1892–1987) – Norwegian peace activist
• Guri Tambs-Lyche (1917–2008) – Norwegian women's rights activist and pacifist

Pakistan

• Malala Yousafzai (born 1997) – Pakistani education activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Palau

• Gabriela Ngirmang (1922–2007) – Palauan peace and anti-nuclear activist

Serbia

• Zorica Jevremović (born 1948) – Serbian playwright, theatre director, peace activist

South Africa

• Julia Solly (1962–1953) – British-born South African suffragist, feminist, pacifist

Spain

• Carmen Magallón (born 1951) – Spanish physicist, pacifist, conducting research in support of women's advancement in science and peace
• Concepción Picciotto (born 1945–2016) – Spanish-born anti-nuclear and anti-war protester, White House Peace Vigil

Sweden

• Andrea Andreen (1888–1972) — Swedish physician, pacifist and feminist
• Emilia Broomé (1866–1925) – Swedish politician, feminist and peace activist
• Siri Derkert (1888–1973) – Swedish artist, pacifist and feminist
• Beatrice Fihn (born 1982) – Swedish anti-nuclear activist, chairperson of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• Ann-Margret Holmgren (1850–1940) – Swedish writer, feminist and pacifist
• Anna Kleman (1862–1940) – Swedish suffragist and peace activist
• Agda Montelius (1850–1920) – Swedish philanthropist, feminist, peace activist
• Alva Myrdal (1902–1986) – Swedish sociologist, politician, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient

Switzerland

• Idy Hegnauer (1909–2006) – Swiss nurse and peace activist
• Émilie de Morsier (1843–1896) – Swiss feminist, pacifist and abolitionist
• Clara Ragaz (1874–1957) – Swiss pacifist and feminist
• Elisabeth Rotten (1882–1964) – German-born Swiss peace activist and education reformer

United Kingdom

• Ruth Adler (1944–1994) – feminist, and human rights campaigner in Scotland
• Pat Arrowsmith (born 1930) – British author and peace campaigner
• Margaret Ashton (1856–1937) – British suffragist, local politician, pacifist
• Meg Beresford (born 1937) – British activist, European Nuclear Disarmament movement
• Janet Bloomfield (1953–2007) – British peace and disarmament campaigner, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• Brigid Brophy (1929–1965) – British novelist, feminist, pacifist
• Vera Brittain (1893–1970) – British writer, pacifist
• April Carter (born 1937) – British peace activist, researcher, editor
• Ada Nield Chew (1870–1945) – British suffragist and pacifist
• Helena Cobban (born 1952) – British peace activist, journalist, author
• Kathleen Courtney (1878–1974) – British suffragist and pacifist
• Helen Crawfurd (1877–1954) – Scottish suffragette, Communist activist and pacifist
• Agnes Dollan (1887–1966) – Scottish suffragette, political activist and pacifist
• Peggy Duff (1910–1981) – British peace activist, socialist, founder and first General Secretary of CND
• Diana Francis (born 1944) – British peace activist and scholar, former president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation
• Margaret Hills (1882–1967) – British educator, suffragist, feminist and pacifist
• Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926) – British welfare campaigner
• Kate Hudson (born 1958) – British left-wing political activist and academic; General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and National Secretary of Left Unity; officer of the Stop the War Coalition since 2002
• Kathleen Innes (1883–1967) – British educator, writer, pacifist
• Helen John – British activist, one of the first full-time members of the Greenham Common peace camp
• Muriel Lester (1885–1968) – British social reformer, pacifist and nonconformist; Ambassador and Secretary for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation; co-founder of the Kingsley Hall
• Chrystal Macmillan (1872–1937) – Scottish politician, feminist, pacifist
• Mairead Maguire (born 1944) – Northern Ireland peace movement, Nobel peace laureate
• Sybil Morrison (1893–1984) – British pacifist active in the Peace Pledge Union
• Marian Cripps, Baroness Parmoor (1878–1952) – British anti-war activist
• Priscilla Hannah Peckover (1833–1931) – English pacifist, nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize
• Lindis Percy (born 1941) – British nurse, midwife, pacifist, founder of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB)
• Madeleine Rees (fl. from 1990s) – British lawyer, human right and peace proponent
• Ellen Robinson (1840–1912) – British peace campaigner
• Ada Salter (1866–1942) – English Quaker, pacifist, a founding member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• Molly Scott Cato (born 1963) – British green economist, Green Party politician, pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigner
• Mary Sheepshanks (1872–1960) – British pacifist, feminist, journalist and social worker
• Myrtle Solomon (1921–1987) – British General Secretary of the Peace Pledge Union and Chair of War Resisters International
• Frances Benedict Stewart (fl. 1920s–1950s) – Chilean-born American sociologist, pacifist, feminist and Bahá'í pioneer
• Ada Salter (1866–1942) – English Quaker, pacifist, a founding member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• Ethel Snowden (1881–1951) – British socialist, human rights activist, feminist politician and pacifist
• Sophia Sturge (1849-1936) - British Quaker, social reformer, and pacifist
• Helena Swanwick (1864–1939) – British feminist and pacifist
• Kathleen Tacchi-Morris (1899–1993) – British dancer, founder of Women for World Disarmament
• Helen Thomas (1966–1989) – Welsh peace activist, died at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
• Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976) – British actress and pacifist; member of the Peace Pledge Union who gave readings for its benefit
• Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) – English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist
• Betty Williams (born 1943) – Northern Irish pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976
• Lilian Wolfe (1875–1974) – British anarchist, pacifist, feminist
• Angie Zelter (born 1951) – British anti-war and anti-nuclear activist, co-founder of Trident Ploughshares

United States

• Bella Abzug (1920–1998) – American lawyer, politician, social activist and pacifist
• Jane Addams (1860–1935) – American, national chairman of Woman's Peace Party, president of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and 1931 Nobel peace laureate
• Fannie Fern Andrews (1867–1950) – American educator, writer, social worker and pacifist
• Joan Baez (born 1941) – prominent American anti-war protester, inspirational singer
• Ella Baker (1903–1986) – African-American civil rights activist, feminist, pacifist
• Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961) – American pacifist, leader of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and 1946 Nobel peace laureate
• Medea Benjamin (born 1952) – American author, organizer, co-founder of the anti-militarist Code Pink
• Norma Elizabeth Boyd (1888–1985) – African American politically active educator, children's rights proponent, pacifist
• Heloise Brainerd (1881–1869) – American women activist, pacifist
• Sophonisba Breckinridge (1866–1948) – American educator, social reformer, pacifist
• Olympia Brown (1835–1926) – American theologist, suffragist, pacifist
• Gertrude C. Bussey (1888–1961) – American philosopher, peace activist
• Joan Chittister (born 1936) – American Benedictine nun, prioress, writer, pacifist, co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women
• Judy Collins (born 1939) – inspirational American anti-war singer/songwriter, protester
• Rachel Corrie (1979–2003) – American activist for Palestinian human rights
• Frances Crowe (born 1919) – American pacifist, anti-nuclear power activist, draft counselor supporting conscientious objectors
• Rennie Davis (born 1941) – American anti-Vietnam war leader, organizer
• Dorothy Day (1897–1980) – American journalist, social activist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement
• Dorothy Detzer (1893–1981) – American feminist, peace activist, U.S. secretary of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• Amanda Deyo (1838–?) – American Universalist minister, peace activist, correspondent
• Mary Dingman (1875–1961) – American social and peace activist
• Roberta Dunbar (died 1956) – American clubwoman and peace activist
• Crystal Eastman (1881–1928) – American lawyer, suffragist, pacifist, journalist
• Hedy Epstein (1924–2016) – Jewish-American antiwar activist, escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport; active in opposition to Israeli military policies
• Jodie Evans (born 1954) – American political activist, co-founder of Code Pink, filmmaker
• Genevieve Fiore (1912–2002) – American women's rights and peace activist
• Jane Fonda (born 1937) – American anti-war protester, actress
• Elisabeth Freeman (1876–1942) – American suffragist, civil rights activist and pacifist
• Emma Goldman (1869–1940) – Russian/American activist imprisoned in the U.S. for opposition to World War I
• Amy Goodman (born 1957) – American journalist, host of Democracy Now!
• Alice Hamilton (1869–1970) – American physician, toxicologist, humanitarian and peace activist
• Judith Hand (born 1940) – American biologist, pioneer of peace ethology
• Florence Jaffray Harriman (1870–1967) – American suffragist, social reformer, pacifist and diplomat
• Alice Herz (1882–1965) – German-born American peace activist
• Abbie Hoffman (1936–1989) – American anti-Vietnam war leader, co-founder of Yippies
• Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) – American writer, social activist, peace advocate
• Hannah Clothier Hull (1872–1958) – American Quaker activist, in the leadership of WILPF in the US
• Helen Keller (1880–1968) – American activist, deafblind writer, speech "Strike Against The War" Carnegie Hall, New York 1916
• Kathy Kelly (born 1952) – American peace and anti-war activist, arrested over 60 times during protests; member and organizer of international peace teams
• Coretta Scott King (1927–2006) – American writer, civil rights leader and pacifist
• Lola Maverick Lloyd (1875–1944) – American pacifist, suffragist, feminist
• Elizabeth McAlister (born 1939) – American former nun, co-founder of Jonah House, peace activist
• Ava Helen Pauling (1903–1981) – American human rights activist, feminist, pacifist
• Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973) – first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, lifelong pacifist
• Brandy G. Robinson (born 1978) – writer, human rights advocate, pacifist
• Coleen Rowley (born 1954) – ex-FBI agent, whistleblower, peace activist, and the first recipient of the Sam Adams Award
• Cindy Sheehan (born 1957) – American anti-Iraq and anti-Afghanistan war leader
• Jeanmarie Simpson (born 1959) – American feminist, peace activist
• Samantha Smith (1972–1985) – American schoolgirl, young advocate of peace between Soviets and Americans
• Eve Tetaz (born 1931) – retired American teacher, peace and justice activist
• Lillian Wald (1867–1940) – American nurse, writer, human rights activist, suffragist and pacifist
• Mary Wilhelmine Williams (1878–1944) – American historian, feminist and pacifist
• Anita Parkhurst Willcox (1892–1984) – American artist, feminist, pacifist
• Fanny Garrison Villard (1844–1928) – American suffragist and pacifist,
• Alice Walker (born 1944) – American novelist, feminist and pacifist
• Jody Williams (born 1950) – American anti-landmine advocate and organizer, Nobel peace laureate
• Dagmar Wilson (1916–2011) – American illustrator, pacifist, founder of Women Strike for Peace

Yemen

• Tawakkol Karman (born 1979) – Yemini journalist, politician and human rights activist; shared 2011 Nobel Peace prize

See also

• List of peace activists
• Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
• List of women's rights activists

References

1. Paull, John (2018) The Women Who Tried to Stop the Great War: The International Congress of Women at The Hague 1915, In A. H. Campbell (Ed.), Global Leadership Initiatives for Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding (pp. 249-266). (Ch.12) Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
2. Wilmers, Annika. "International Women's Peace Movements". EHNE. Retrieved 25 January 2019.