Women peacemakers born today

1766 Germaine de Stael born Paris, France (d. 1817). Liberal Swiss philosopher and author; exiled opponent of Napoleon, 1804; early advocate of abolition of slave trade, 1813.
1858 Ethel Smyth born Sidcup, Kent, England (d. 1944). British musical composer of operas, songs, chamber music, piano and organ music. Wrote suffragist anthem "March of the Women", 1911.
1904 María Zambrano Alarcón born Vélez-Málaga, Andalusia, Spain (d. 1991). Leading 20th century Spanish philosopher. Exiled by civil war, 1939-84.
1909 Rita Levi-Montalcini born Turin, Italy (d. 2012) Italian-American neurologist. Advocated education for peace in her autobiography In Praise of Imperfection, 1988. Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1986.
1955 Ann Marie Janson Lang born Sweden. Swedish doctor at Karolynska Institute led WHO case against nuclear weapons at World Court 1996.
1980 Erica Chenoweth born Ohio. American professor of international relations; expert on civil resistance. Co-authored Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, 2011.

Women's peacemaking on this day

1868 First publication of Gualberta Alaide Beccari's Italian feminist journal La Donna.
1963 Mothers for Peace pleaded with Pope John XXIII to condemn nuclear war and promote nonviolent resistance.
1984 Easter Plowshares protest by Christin Schmidt and Anne Montgomery damaged Pershing missile at Martin Marietta plant Orlando; 3 years in prison; banner: “Violence Ends Where Love Begins.”
1999 Earth Day: Joan Baez and Bonnie Raitt climbed redwood tree to join Butterfly Hill in protest.
1996 Ursuline Sister Diana Ortiz began fast for release of documents about Guatemalan atrocities.
2010 Maltese peacemaker Bianca Zammit shot by Israeli army, Gaza.
2011 Women for Bahrain launched campaign against sectarian hatred.
2011 In Asheville, NC, organizers held a Slut Walk against sexual violence, one of the first in the US.
2011 Eleven women arrested for chain-locking gate at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
2015 Opening of WILPF Centennial Congress, “Women’s Power to Stop War,” at Peace Palace, The Hague.