Queen Christina Vasa of Sweden born Stockholm December 8, 1626 (d. 1689). Patron of the father of international law, Hugo Grotius; major influence on Peace of Westphalia, which ended Thirty Years War, 1648; held Swedish throne, 1644-53; student of Islam.
"If we let God act within us, how good it would be. . . What miracles would God not work within us and outside of us!" (Maxims cited by Tracy Marks; Bourdin port. In Swe Nat. Gal. pd)
Helen Bright Clark born Rochdale, Lancashire, England October 10, 1840 (d. 1927). Pioneering British women’s rights activist; suffragist. Quaker absolute pacifist. Raised two peacemaker daughters, Hilda and Alice. Founding member of anti-racist Society for the Furtherance of Human Brotherhood. Active in Aborigines' Protection Society. Decried Boer War as “a measureless calamity”; opposed WWI. Early signator of Open Christmas Letter to German women peace appeal, 1915. Served on committee for Hague Women's Peace Congress, 1915. Argued that suffrage would promote peace.
“And so far as the question of peace or war is to the front, we must all admit that overrides every other, for it carries the fate of every other question with it: and any government, or any party, that will keep the question of peace permanently unsettled, will succeed in stifling discussion and checking progress.” (Jan. 29, 1879, Bristol; photo ancestry.com)
Hilda Clark born Somerset, England January 12, 1881 (d. 1955). Quaker; physician. Founded Friends War Victims Relief, 1914; spearheaded Friends Relief Mission Austria, 1919-22; worked with Greek refugees; involved with WILPF & Women's Peace Crusade.
"We must be just though Nature is not." (London Faith & Practice, p. 108)
Maureen Harding Clark born Scotland January 3, 1946. Served as Irish judge on International Criminal Court, 2002-6; presided over Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, 1999.
"The ICC will work when you—the eyes and ears of the international community—inform it and the world what is happening." (Sept. 10, 2003, Second Dublin Platform; photo http://bit.ly/zhyCtM)
Helena Cobban born Abingdon, England October 31, 1952. British journalist; expert on Middle East and postwar justice. Quaker pacifist. Founded publishing company Just World Books, 2010.
“[A]ll wars inflict terrible, long-lasting damage on all the residents of the war-zone—with the weakest members of society always suffering the most. There is no such thing as a ‘humanitarian’ war. In cases of conflict or bitter oppression, the very best way to mend broken relationships while building a solid basis for a better situation going forward is to use all nonviolent means possible to de-escalate tensions.” (worldbeyondwar.org/quotes; photo kabobfest.com)
Clara Bewick Colby born Gloucester, England August 1, 1846 (d. 1916). American publisher, first official war correspondent, lecturer, and peace advocate. Founding editor of suffragist journal Women’s Tribune, 1883. Delegate to International Peace Conferences, London, 1899; The Hague, 1913. Spoke on peace at Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. Correspondent for International Peace Union. Vice-President, League of World Peace, 1915.
“The mission of woman is to find and develop the woman in himself.” (Unity, Oct. 24, 1912; photo Wikipedia)
Clara Gilbert Cole born December 4, 1868. (d. 1956). Suffragist, socialist, anarchist, antiwar poet, and pamphleteer. Volunteer nurse. Founded League Against War and Conscription, 1915; later founded No Conscription Fellowship. Arrested for non-conscription banner at Trafalgar Square, 1916; released to protest many times. Arrested for antiwar activity, Kettering, Northamptonshire, 1916; served 5 months prison. Arrested for unemployed protest, 1922.
“I will nurse men for life, but not send them back to the trenches.” (Peace Pledge Union, The Men Who Said No)
“Men and Women of England, Arbitration finally settles all wars. If at the end of a war, why not at the beginning? If not at the beginning why not now? Demand terms of settlement from our Government as the German people are doing.” (protest sign, July 11, 1915, Ibid)
When the hand will not rise to smite, And the heart will refuse to fight, When munitions cannot be made, And we to shape Death shrink, afraid To see the gangrened flesh, erstwhile So white, and see the silent pile
This hour was active limb and brain, Then surely we shall end this pain.
They pray to God “to end this strife”, He waits for them to stay the knife.
The Alternative
Better barren women than children bred for war,
Better death in birth than manhood trained for murder; Better bleak wild country than shattered flesh and bone; Better voided earth before Primeval Sundown.
And better dead blank world if battles still must rage—
But best of all no war at all, And Peace in a Golden Age.
(“WHEN”; photo her husband’s portrait libcom.org)
Louise de Coligny born Châtillon-sur-Loing, France September 23, 1555 (d. 1620). Peacemaker consort of Prince William the Silent of Orange who persuaded her step-son Philip William of Orange to accept the Treaty of Antwerp 1609 starting the Twelve Years Truce in the Dutch War of Independence, granting Netherlands independent status and acceptance of trade in Indonesia. A humanist scholar, Louise was influenced by Grotius, whose classic Freedom of the Seas was published a month before the treaty.
"It will be, Monsieur, a great good and an advancement for the glory of God if these people make a good decision." (letter to diplomat Duplessis-Mornay, Oct. 2, 1609, in Jane Couchman and Ann Crab, Women’s Letters Across Europe, p. 174, 2006; photo Wikipedia)
Lucie Colliard (née Parmelan) born St. Félix, Upper Savoy, France January 24, 1877 (d. 1961). Pacifist and socialist activist. Opposed World War; removed from her teaching position for her pacifism, 1917. Arrested and given two-year prison sentence for “anti-militarism,” 1918, but later pardoned. Joined French Communist Party, 1920. Led “The Beautiful Strike of Women” in Brittany, 1925. Treasurer of the Organizing Committee of the Rally against War & the Union Sacrée, 1935. Signed manifesto against war, 1938. Resisted German occupation; elected postwar deputy mayor of Clichy for her resistance to the Nazis.
“[I would like] to create an understanding among socialists of all countries to impose conditions of peace on all governments.” (1914, in Humanité, Nov. 10, 1998)
Elizabeth Rous Comstock born Maidenhead, Berkshire, England October 30, 1815 (d. 1891). Quaker pacifist; minister; abolitionist; ran underground railroad in US; opposed Civil War.
"Now we are able to love our enemies and 'overcome evil with good.'" (Letters, p. 284; image from Hanaford, Daughters of Amer., 1888, p. 414)
Freda Mary Pym Cook born Alvescott, Oxford, England November 9, 1896 (d. 1990). New Zealand's leader against Vietnam War, Apartheid and imperialism; Socialist.
"New Zealand for New Zealanders/Vietnam for Vietnamese" (poster 1971 at US Woodbourne base; photo 1948 Dict. NZ Bio.)
Judith Anne Cook (née Cushing) born Manchester, England July 9, 1933 (d. 2004). British anti-nuclear leader; historical fiction writer; led 400 pram-pushing mothers in protest at Russian embassy London Nov. 1962; founded Voice of Women Dec. 1962; Quaker attender.
“[W]e watched a programme that showed Russian and American tanks facing each other in Berlin, and the commentator interviewed an American colonel who recogned they’d be using nuclear weapons by next Tuesday. I was horrified. I sat down and wrote a letter to The Guardian—from the standpoint of an anxious mother. . . [to] express my fears and feelings of powerlessness.” (The Guardian, March 7, 1962; photo amazon.co.uk)
Selina Cooper (née Coombe) born Callington, Cornwall, England December 4, 1864 (d. 1946). Leading British suffragist; labor organizer; opposed both World Wars and draft; organizer Women's Peace Crusade, WILPF.
Pelted with eggs and tomatoes, she said, "I'm stopping here, whatever you throw, so go and fetch all the stuff you've got to throw." (Howarth, Nov. 1913, spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wcooper.htm; photo Spartacus edu)
Margery Corbett Ashby born Danehill, E. Sussex, England April 19, 1882 (d. 1981). British suffragist and politician; observed Versailles Peace Conference 1919; delegate to Geneva Disarmament Conference 1932; resigned 1935 when government rearmed; protested avoiding League of Nations 1937; drafted UN Human Rights Declaration; last demonstration at age 98.
On the dawn of WWII: "As human beings, as nations, as individuals even we must admit defeat and failure, blindness and negligence." (K. Offen, Global Feminisms, p. 167, 2010; photo spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)
Eugénie Cotton born Soubise, Charente-Maritime, France October 13, 1881 (d. 1967). French scientist, feminist, peace advocate; founding president pacifist Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) Paris 1945, dedicated to peace, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism; Resistance to Nazis WWII; arrested for resistance to draft for Vietnam War 1950; opposed Algerian War; Stalin Peace Prize 1951; World Peace Council gold medal 1961.
"In a world determined to change the state of things that has led men to fight two horrible world wars within 25 year, the new element, the power of the mass of women active in public life, can and must be of very great importance." (Dec. 1945, Int. Cong. of Women cited by Francisca de Haan; photo blanc mesnil)
Kathleen D’Olier Courtney born Gillingham, England March 11, 1878 (d. 1974). British suffragette. Co-founded WILPF, 1915; chair of British WILPF, 1923-33. Executive of League of Nations Union; observer at San Francisco Conference for founding of UN; president of British UNA, 1949-51; awarded UN Peace Medal, 1974. Opposed Boer War and its concentration camps; opposed World War I and postwar famine.
“Somebody must begin to be good if the better world we were promised is ever to come.” (Daily News, 1920; photo Spartacus)
Margaret "Gretta" Gillespie Cousins born Boyle, Ireland November 7, 1878 (d. 1954). British feminist and radical suffragist leader; spent one month in prison, 1910; anti-imperialist; founded and led two Indian women's organizations; first female magistrate in India; arrested in India for civil disobedience, 1933.
“Curiously enough, though I had the backing of some of the best women of India, I was the one voice publicly explaining and proclaiming the suffrage cause: not because I had any special fitness, but simply because the womanhood of India had not yet found its authoritative voice.” (James and Margaret Cousins, We Two Together, 1950)
“I . . . volunteered for militant action knowing it would result in my imprisonment. I knew that if I discussed my decision with relatives or friends they would feel bound to try to save me from suffering. It was my own urge, my own responsibility, and, I felt, my own privilege. At any rate my plan of action worked.” (We Two Together, p. 174; photo Speedie's blog)
Birgit Cramon-Daiber born Ebingen, Württemberg, Germany August 22, 1944. Green member of Parliament 1989; vice chair Greens in European Parliament 1992-94; founder The Common Good of Humanity; head Rosa Luxemburg Foundation; edited The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation, 2012.
“In many cases women generate a peace dividend under conditions of war, by maintaining relationships which circumvent the enmity created by war, through direct cooperation between women of the opposing parties. The experience and wisdom of women is of incalculable value for the peace building process.” (The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation, p. 67; photo birgitdaiber.eu)
Helen Jack Crawfurd born Glasgow, Scotland November 9, 1877 (d. 1954). Scottish peace leader against World War I; internationalist; Socialist/Communist; organized famine relief in Russia, Germany and Ireland, 1920; arrested four times for suffrage protests, 1912-14, released after hunger strikes; founding conference of WILPF Hague; founded Women's Peace Crusade, 1916; arrested three times for antiwar activity; Commonwealth peace conference participant, 1939.
"If Christ could be a Militant so could I." (bio. Alternative Perthshire; photo Radical Glasgow)
Marian Ellis Cripps, Baroness Parmoor, born Nottingham, England January 6, 1878 (d. 1952). Quaker war resister; twin sister of peacemaker Edith. Aided victims of Boer War; opposed conscription in World War I. Co-founded Fellowship of Reconciliation; founding member WILPF. President of World YWCA, 1924-28. Authored pamphlet against atom bomb, 1948. Head of British WILPF, 1950. Worked to end Korean War and admit China to UN.
“At the end of this war the world will have to decide which way it desires to go, towards disarmament or destruction, there will be no middle course. The choice is really between basing our civilization on faith or fear, and the question of armaments stands at the parting of the ways.” (Friends’ Quarterly Examiner, 1917, in Oldfield, Thinking Against the Current, p. 120)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
