Elisabeth Decrey Warner

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Overview

Elisabeth Decrey Warner born December 16, 1953. Swiss peace advocate; president of Geneva cantonal Council 2000; co-founding director of Geneva Call 2000 protecting civilians in war; won Hesse Peace Prize 2012; International Society for Human Rights Prize 2006; PeaceWomen Across the Globe board.

Quotations

“We must overcome the old illusion that women are only victims of conflicts. . . Like men, women can be responsible for war and therefore part of this hell.” (Swiss Info, Nov. 13, 2010; photo bern.usembassy)

Grace DeGraff

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Overview

Grace DeGraff born Thomson, IL March 12, 1879 (d. 1951). School principal. Traveled to Europe as founding member of WILPF, 1915; embarked on Henry Ford Peace Expedition, 1916. Founding member of WILPF Portland chapter.

Quotations

“You must choose whether you will train the rising generation in the militaristic spirit that has engulfed Europe in death, desolation and misery, or whether you will use your every endeavor to counteract the legacy of hate that will be bequeathed to the children and will teach them that only in the time of peace is the progress of the world possible.” (“To the Teachers of All the World”, 1916)

Lucie Dejardin

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Overview

Lucie Dejardin born Grivegnée, Liège, Belgium July 31, 1875 (d. 1945). Coal miner, activist, and politician. Founded Belgian Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; co-founded Women’s Socialist League. Arrested by German occupation; sentenced to life in prison, 1915; released in prisoner exchange, 1917. First woman in Chamber of Representatives, 1929.

Quotations

“[Belgian women are] in favor of a Society of Peoples which would establish free trade, and of some sort of United States of Europe which would agree to have recourse to the League of Nations to solve all differences that might arise between nations. . . Pacifist women should demand a reform of education, children being still too often brought up and educated in a militarist spirit which easily develops a spirit of hatred for other peoples. Let the women of the whole world by their spirit of good-will and solidarity exert pressure on the governments. . . Women have it in their power to secure the peace of the world and make it permanent.” (May 1, 1924, Washington DC, Fourth WILPF Congress; photo www.1914-1918.be)

Carla Del Ponte

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Overview

Carla Del Ponte born Lugano, Switzerland February 9, 1947. Swiss Attorney General, 1994-99. Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, 1999-2008. European Community investigator of Kosovo organ thefts, 2008; Swiss diplomat, 2008-11. UNHCR mission on Syrian war, 2011.

Quotations

“[T]here can be no lasting peace in a society unless the criminal justice system is allowed to take its course.” (CNN, June 9, 2001; 2006 photo Wikipedia)

Barbara Deming

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Overview

Barbara Deming born New York City July 23, 1917 (d. 1984). Nonviolent activist and writer; lesbian; first arrested 1962 against atom bomb; arrested in civil rights protest Albany GA 1964; Seneca Peace Camp 1984.

Quotations

"We believe in the power of nonviolent acts to speak louder than words." (Albany, GA, 1964, "Prison Notes" in Prisons that Could Not Hold, p. 62, 1985; photo Wikipedia)

Hilal Demir

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Overview

Hilal Demir born Turkey July 25, 1979. Turkish sculptor, feminist, nonviolent anarchist; founded Antimilitarist Feminists 1999; Izmir War Resisters 1997-2002; Izmir Nonviolent Training Institute.

Quotations

“I WANT to live free and happy in a world where there is no war, nor any kind of violence.” (May 13, 2005 declaration of conscientious objection; photo of WRI candidates, 2006)

Pauline Dempers

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Overview

Pauline Dempers born Aranos, Hardap, Namibia April 28, 1968. Namibian human rights leader; anti-Apartheid protester; arrested as a spy and tortured by SWAPO in Angola exile 1986; national coordinator Breaking the Wall of Silence 1996 exposing SWAPO abuses and finding reconciliation.

Quotations

“I also want us to listen to each other to find a solution. This should be the foundation on which we build: honoring the ones who could not make it back home, acknowledging that this was a real situation that we have to deal with. We must put a human face on this history, and say never again will we get there. Then build in strategies and policies that prevent that with the help of both the ones who have lost and the ones who have caused the pain.” (quote and photo Jenna Barnett, “Tell Them Our Names”, pp. 55-6, Kroc WomenPeacemakers Narrative)

Mary Ware Dennett

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Overview

Mary Coffin Ware Dennett born Worcester, MA April 4, 1872 (d. 1947). Art teacher; suffragist; socialist antiwar crusader. Secretary of American Union against Militarism, 1916; co-founder of radical anti-World War I People's Council, 1917; first chairperson of World Federalists, 1941-44. Convicted of obscenity for birth control literature, 1929.

Quotations

"If a few federal officials want to use their power to penalize me for my work for the young people of this country, they must bear the shame of the jail sentence. It is the government which is disgraced, not I." (April 24, 1929, Brooklyn federal courthouse; photo Intlawgrrls)

Maria Deraismes

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Overview

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Maria Deraismes born Paris, France August 15, 1828 (d. 1894). Leading French feminist and pacifist; founded Human Right, first Masonic lodge practicing equality 1882; co-founded Society for Amelioration of Women's Condition 1870; co-convened first women's rights conference 1878; promoted arbitration.

Quotations

"Elimination of women from universal suffrage necessarily means the prolongation of the warlike spirit."

"Armed peace is no less ruinous and demoralizing than war." (July 1883 petition, in Karen Offen, European Feminisms, pp. 175, 449, 2000; photo parisrevolutionnaire)

Jeanne Deroin

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Overview

Jeanne Deroin born Paris, France December 31, 1805 (d. 1894). Feminist pioneer and Saint Simonian socialist. Revolutionary leader, 1848. First woman to run for national office, 1849. Imprisoned for socialist views, 1851.

Quotations

“In politics the opinion of women, whether their inclinations are republican or aristocratic, can be thought of as love and peace. . . They all agree in wishing that a politics of peace and work would replace the selfish politics that incite men to destroy one another.” (Jean Scott, Only Paradoxes, p. 77; sketch nueva tribuna)

Juliette Derricotte

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Overview

Juliette Derricotte born Athens, GA April 1, 1896 (d. 1931 when hospital refused her care after auto crash). African-American internationalist educator; Dean of Women, Fisk University. Traveled the globe as representative of the World Student Christian Federation to promote peace and justice.

Quotations

"Do we look upon every person—white, red, yellow, black—as sons of God—sacred to God?" (Marion Cuthbert, Juliette Derricotte, 1936, p.34)

Alison Des Forges

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Overview

Alison Des Forges (née Liebhafsky) born Schenectady, NY August 20, 1942 (d. 2009). Human rights activist; expert on Rwanda genocide and Congo.

Quotations

“International leaders, chasing the ever-moving goal of stability, ignore crimes against humanity and tolerate obstruction of efforts to reveal the full horror of ongoing abuses in the region. By failing to demand accountability for current crimes, they undermine the credibility of justice being meted out for the genocide and by tolerating impunity for present slaughter, they perpetuate insecurity.” (Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda, 1999, p. 27; photo CNN.com)

Durgabai Deshmukh

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Overview

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Durgabai Deshmukh born Rajahmundry, Andra Pradesh, India July 15, 1909 (d. 1981). Lawyer; postwar legislator; social reformer, Gandhian freedom fighter; nonviolent organizer from age 14; known as "[the] Mother of Social Service." While training nonviolent resisters, called "lioness" and "dictator of Madras." Arrested three times, sentenced to 9 months for participation in Salt Satyagraha, 1930; 3 years sentence, 1932; again, 1942. (photo womensweb.ind)

Nirmala Deshpande

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Overview

Nirmala "Didi" Deshpande born Nagpur, Maharashtra, India October 17, 1929 (d. 2008). Gandhian social reformer; author; member of Indian Parliament, 1997-99, 2004-08. Joined Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan land reform movement, 1952; embarked upon 24,000-mile padayatra ("journey on foot") to spread Gandhi's message; led peace marches in Punjab and Kashmir; honored by both Pakistan and India for peace efforts. Led nonviolent peace effort on Tibet, 1997; created Gandhi Peace Center Kingsway Camp, Delhi, 2004; Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

"[A]fter the disintegration of Soviet Union, only one super power was left. But now another super power is emerging. That is world public opinion for peace. The [New York Times] editor saw this people movement as another super power. It is in the making. It is people who took the initiative and organised themselves. They are trying to do something and make their voice heard. So the movement of people is becoming a strength. Slowly but surely it is going to become a super power and it can change the whole world."(Santosh Nayayan interview, 2008; Headlinesindia.com)

"Although we are living in a nuclear era, most of us are unaware of the nuclear threats and hazards." (New Delhi, November 4, 2007; photo Wikipedia)

Charlotte Despard

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Overview

Charlotte Despard (née French) born Ripple, Kent, England June 15, 1844 (d. 1939). English pacifist and feminist; opposed World War I; first suffrage arrest 1906; twice in Holloway prison for suffrage protests 1907; Theosophist, friend of Gandhi; used nonviolent resistance; furniture seized for tax refusal; supported Irish independence; Dublin home mobbed by anti-communists 1933.

Quotations

"Superiority in physical force was the first weapon which was used by the opponent of Woman's suffrage." (photo islingtontribune.com)

Dorothy Detzer

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Overview

Dorothy Detzer born Ft. Wayne, IN December 1, 1893 (d. 1981). WILPF National Secretary 1924-46; organized post-WW I Quaker relief to Austria and Russia; lobbied against arms makers and military training; advocated for women in international organizations.

Quotations

"Preparedness for war brings war, as it did in Germany... We, therefore, believe that we should find another method for settling international disputes other than that by the duel." (to American Legion, June 17, 1924; photo WILPF exhib, Swarth. Peace Col.)