Diana Apcar

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Overview

Diana Agabeg Apcar (née Gayane Aghabekyan) born Rangoon, Burma October 12, 1859 (d. 1937). One of the earliest women diplomats; anti-imperialist writer on Armenian genocide. Appointed Armenian envoy to Japan, 1920; secured Japan’s recognition.

Quotations

“The curse of the world is imperialism. . . Does not imperialism mean taking what is not one’s own? . . . Does not Imperialism create Strife. Bitterness, Heart-burning , Race-hatred? . . . Imperialism destroys peace. Is it therefore any matter of surprise that Imperialism should always end in decay and dissolution?” (“The Peace Problem”, 1912, pp. 23-24; photo armenianweely.com)

Alice Afuma Appea

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Overview

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Alice Afuma Appea born Gold Coast November 14, 1906 (d. ?). “Grandma Alice.” Ghanaian Quaker; co-founded SOS Children’s Village Association 1970; founding head WILPF Ghana; delegate to UN conference on disarmament 1978.

Quotations

“I believe that this is a woman's world. Much of the striving by men may be traced to women as the primers of the hidden strings of action in men. And, when a man, by dint of inspiration from a woman, wins the laurel, he brings it proudly home and places it at the foot of the woman in his life. . . The rights women aspire to can only come about through the skillful leadership of women themselves. Using their natural gifts of persuasion and influence, women can bring about social transformation.” (Kay Camp, “Listen to Women”, 1975, p.5; photo Wilbaforce Ghana postage)

Anna Mae Aquash

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Overview

Anna Mae Aquash (née Pictou) born Nova Scotia, Canada March 27, 1945 (d. 1975). Canadian First Nations leader; member of Micmac tribe; teacher with American Indian Movement. Led Trail of Broken Treaties March, 1972; occupied Bureau of Indian Affairs. Took part in armed occupation protests of Kenora and Gresham, 1974-75. A murder victim, her body was found in South Dakota, 1976.

Louise Arbour

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Overview

Louise Arbour born Montreal, Canada February 10, 1946. Chief Prosecutor of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, 1996-99; Canadian Supreme Court Justice, 1999-2004; UN Commissioner for Human Rights, 2004-08; Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

"Human rights are not a utopian ideal. They embody an international consensus on the minimum conditions for a life of dignity." (Jan. 14, 2005, Geneva; photo http://bit.ly/IKyTmb)

Concepción Arenal

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Overview

Concepción Arenal Ponte born Ferrol, Galicia, Spain January 31, 1820 (d. 1893). Pioneering Spanish feminist; opponent of all wars; first woman university graduate; poet; prison reformer.

Quotations

“It is certain that war is an infraction of God’s Law, a mockery of His commandments, an attack against all laws, an abandonment of all duties: it honors what is monstrous, it sponsors what is vile, and there is no impiety which it does not sanction nor perversity which it does not justify.” (Cuadros de la Guerra, 1883, in D.J. Walker, Spanish Women, p. 16; photo buscabiografios)

Carmen Argibay

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Overview

Carmen Argibay born Buenos Aires, Argentina June 15, 1939. Argentine justice, first woman on Supreme Court 2005, imprisoned under military rule, Judge International tribunals on Japanese sexual crimes 2000, Yugoslav war crimes 2001-05.

Quotations

"The crimes committed against these survivors remain one of the greatest unacknowledged and unremedied injustices of the Second World War. There are no museums, no graves for the unknown 'comfort woman,' no education of future generations, and there have been no judgement days for the victims of Japan's military sexual slavery and the rampant sexual violence and brutality that characterized its aggressive war." (Dec. 4, 2001 judgment; photo ICTY)

Deniz Ülke Aribogan

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Overview

Deniz Ülke Aribogan born Istanbul, Turkey January 21, 1965. Turkish professor of international relations, focused in countering the effects of terrorism. Rector of Bahçesehir University, 2007-10. Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Quotations

“Fight terrorism, not terrorists.” (Wikipedia)

"Military action can be used to curb the terrorists, but this is only a superficial solution. Fighting against terrorism can only be undertaken within the context of a social, cultural and international structure. Terrorism is a political phenomenon." (World Politics Review, Oct. 15, 2007; photo twitter.com)

Lourdes Arizpe

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Overview

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Lourdes Arizpe Schlosser born Mexico City, Mexico October 4, 1943. Pioneering Mexican anthropologist and professor. Deputy Director, UNESCO, 1994-98. General Secretary, World Commission on Culture, UN and Development.

Quotations

“[I]t is the heightened degree of interdependence in the world that has transformed any 'threat' into a 'global threat' that knows no boundaries. What the recent tragedies in New York and in Afghanistan have demonstrated is that violence has acquired a new global rank. However, so has the collective will for peace, development and sustainability as witnessed by so many thousands of local social or cultural movements which have this aim in mind. Perhaps never in history has this collective will against violence been so evident and so global in its manifestations. This, I believe, is the movement we must act upon through concerted international programs and actions.” (“Culture and globalization”, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, c. 2002; Photo ala UNAM)

Suzanne Arms

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Overview

Suzanne Arms born Camden, NJ April 26, 1945. Expert on childbirth; helped organize West Coast Spring Mobilization against Vietnam War 1967; draft counselor with Friends Service Committee.

Quotations

“My nonviolent roots came from the Quakers I worked with and from being a draft counselor. That war provoked many of us to take to the streets and to improvise ways to awaken society and make it better.” (Jour. Perinatal Ed., Fall 2002; photo wikicommons)

Karen Armstrong

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Overview

Karen Armstrong born Wildmoor, Worcestershire, England November 14, 1944. British religious historian; promotes compassion and interfaith dialog.

Quotations

"The world religions that developed during the first millennium BCE rejected this bellicose theology and preached empathy, compassion, even non-violence." (Guardian, Dec. 29, 2003; photo Charter for Compassion)

Emily Arnesen

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Overview

Emily Arnesen born Kristiania, Norway June 14, 1867 (d. 1928). Zoologist and educator; pioneer in international peace education; first president of Norwegian WILPF; co-founder WILPF Geneva 1919.

Quotations

“The inquiry has shown that there are people from different milieus in countries formerly at war with one another, who are now ready to co-operate in regard to international education against war.” (Vienna, June 1921, Report of Education Committee to Third WILPF Conference, p. 239; photo muv.uio.no)

Florence Rita Arrey

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Overview

Florence Rita Arrey born Buea, Cameroon August 18, 1949. Judge of International Ruanda Tribunal (ICTR) 2003; convicted Rwandan singer Bikindi of genocide.

Quotations

"The Chamber has found Bikindi guilty of direct and public incitement to commit genocide based on his public exhortations to kill Tutsi in a vehicle outfitted with a public address system on the main road between Kivumu and Kayove in late June 1994. Bikindi was the principal perpetrator of this crime." (Dec. 2, 2008 judgment, para. 448; photo ICYR)

Pat Arrowsmith

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Overview

Pat Arrowsmith born Leamington Spa, England March 2, 1930. British author and poet. Peace activist with Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; jailed 11 times, 1958-85. Organized first Aldermaston March, 1958; ran as peace candidate for Parliament, 1970, 1979. Sentenced to 18 months for leafleting soldiers against war in Northern Ireland, she appealed to European Human Rights Court.

Quotations

“People marched then because they were frightened of nuclear weapons. They were also worried about the fall-out from nuclear tests. . . Why we are marching to Aldermaston now is because we believe there are schemes to create a new generation of nuclear weapons.” (BBC Online, Apr. 7, 2004; photo teifidancer blog)

Akmaral Arystanbekova

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Overview

Akmaral Arystanbekova born Kazakhstan May 12, 1948. Chemist and diplomat. First Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, 1989-91. Initiated destruction of world’s fourth-largest cache of nuclear weapons; closed Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, 1991. Proposed Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.

Quotations

“[T]he most effective tool for global concerted action in addressing pressing global issues remains the United Nations.” (Eurodialogue interview, March 19, 2012; photo UN)

Berit As

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Overview

Berit Ås (née Skarpaas) born Fredrikstad, Norway April 10, 1928. Norwegian feminist politician; peace activist; started Women Strike for Peace Norway 1961; social psychology professor; parliament member 1973-7, founding Socialist Left party 1975; co-founded campaign "Women for Peace” 1980, a petition demanding end to nuclear arms race and using war industry to produce food for world's poor, got 500,000 signatures worldwide.

Quotations

“More power to women." (Robin Morgan (ed.): Sisterhood is Global)

“[Women] have an entirely different approach to questions about military power, war, and peace.” (“A Materialistic View” p. 357, cited by Cibreiro & Lopez Global Issues, p. 5; .photo kjonnsforskning.no)