Monday, December 4, 2006
References
www.bbc.com www.wikipedia.com www.un.org www.evaperon.org http://www.camembert-country.com/ccorday.htm www.indiragandhi.com www.womeninworldhistory.com
Shirin Ebadi
Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. The Nobel Prize was for pioneering efforts in democracy and women and children's rights. She is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the award. The announcement of the winner of the award winner came at a crucial time for Iran, giving the people hope and a renewed sense of pride in being Muslim, Iranian, and the event showed the world that the Middle East is not what they think.
Nadezhda Durova
Nadezhda Durova (1783-1886)was a women who became a highly decorated soldier. She was the first known female officer in the Russian army. 
Durova was raised in an army camp by her father's soldiers. In 1807 she deserted her husband and son and joined the Russian calvary and fought in the Napoleanic wars. Her bravery in battle caught the interest of the Tsar, and she was called to St Peterburg where she was awarded the Cross of St George. She published her memoirs, her journal during her military service, in 1836. She also published four novels concerning women's rights. Durova wore men's clothing for the rest of her life, and was buried with full military honors.
Eliška Krásnohorská
Eliska (1847-1926) was a feminist author in the now Czech Republic. Sha was the editor of the Woman's Journal since 1875. She has written at least 4 novels, a dozen librettos, an opera, children's books, and literary criticism and essays on social commentary of the time. She was known for her realism with spoon full of sugar and biting sarcasm.
Kathe Kollwitz
Kollwitz (1867-1945) was a prominent print artist whose work was a very real portrayal of human suffering. She lost her youngest son in World War I, which precipitated a severe and long lasting depression. Her work for 17 years after that was in memorium to him. Kollwitz was a socialist pacifist, and held a faculty position at the Academy of Arts, which she was forced to resign from by the Nazi party in 1933. She also was banned from showing her artwork. After evacuating Berlin in 1943 to Dresden, she later passed away in 1945, just before the end of World War II.
Empress Wu Zetian
The Empress Wu Zetian ruled China Through a "puppet" dynasty before forming her own Zhou dynasty, which was completely unprecedented. She ruled from 690 to 705 A.D. She is the only woman in 2100 years of emperial China to have ever given herself the title of emperor and sat on the throne, not just ruling from behind it. In 705, at 80, she was unable to put down a coup d'etat and stepped down from the throne. Before she died nine months later, she made sure that her like-minded nephew was clearly in charge behind the scenes of the dynasty in power.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi was the first female prime minister of India from 1966-1977. Both Gandhi and her family are known for their work towards India's independence from Britain. One of her biggest policies came in the form of poverty abolishment and family planning. She received a lot of criticism for her voluntary serilization program to control population growth.
In order to control rioting, Gandhi declared a state of emergency in 1975. She allowed for elections in 1977 and was voted out of office. She regained her office in 1980, but was assassinated by her bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
Charlotte de Corday
On July 17, 1793 Charlotte de Corday was executed by guillotine for the murder of prominent French revolutionary, Jean-Paul Marat. Marat was a journalist and a member of the radical Jacobin party, who specifically supported the September Massacres, which was Corday's reasoning for killing him. The assassination took place on July 13. Charlotte was very calculated and the assassination was definitely premeditated. The day of the assassination, Corday bought a dinner knife and wrote Adresse aux Français amis des lois et de la paix (Letter to the French People Who are Friends of Law and Peace), explaining what, how, and why she was committing the aassassination She went to Marat's home and told him that she had information pertaining to a Girondist rebellion. Marat, who commonly conducted business from his bath tub due to a skin condition, took down the names Corday gave him and was stabbed in the chest by Corday the dinner knife that she hiding in her scarf.
Eva Peron
The second wife of President Juan Domingo Peron of Argentina, Eva wanted to run for Vice President but was prevented from running by her husband. She was named the “Spiritual Leader of the Nation” in 1952. Eva created the first large female political in Argentina , the Female Peronist Party. She also founded the Eva Peron Foundation in 1948, which provides scholarships for underprivilaged children, and built homes, hospitals, and orphanages in underdeveloped areas. In 1950, Eva was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but the diagnosis was withheld from her by her husband. By 1951 she could not stand without help. Eva died in July, 1952. Her body placed on permanent display until a monument could be completed. After the coup d’etat in 1955, her husband fled the country so quickly that he did make arrangements for her body. Eva’s body went missing until 1971.
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