Smaranda Enache

Overview

Smaranda Enache born Târgu Mureş, Romania March 31, 1950. Romanian peace activist and human rights advocate; journalist; diplomat. Peacemaker in Balkans; president of Liga Pro Europa.

Quotations

“The world itself is facing some critical choices, violence and divisions will increase. . . Pan-Europe [had] a founding ideal of a continent reconciled with history, rich diversity of cultures and communities united by fundamental values of human dignity.” (Foreword, Liga Annual Report, 2001; photo revista22.ro)

Hedy Epstein

Overview

Hedy Epstein (née Wachenheimer) born Freiburg, Germany August 15, 1924 (d. 2016). Saved from Holocaust by Kindertransport, 1939. Undertook peace missions to Cambodia and Central America, 1989; nonviolent protests against Israeli wall and destruction 2005; March to Free Gaza March 2009; hunger strike, Cairo, 2009-10.

Quotations

"I care profoundly about issues of justice and fairness and peace. And I care about people—not just Jewish people. I care about everybody." (Columbia Daily-Tribune, June 21, 2009; photo events.stanford)

Maria Fernanda Espinosa

Overview

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés born Salamanca, Spain September 7, 1964. Poet and diplomat. Ecuadorian Foreign Minster, 2007; UN Ambassador, 2008-11; Ecuadorian Defense Minister, 2012-present. Closed US base at Manta, 2007; as Permanent Representative to UN, opposed responsibility to protect, 2008; as Defense Minister, promised to close half of military bases and turn them into public places like parks, 2014.

Quotations

"Responsibility to protect does not respect the sovereignty of nations." (The WIP, November 21, 2008)

"Ecuador is a sovereign country. We don't need foreign troops on our soil." (February 15, 2007; photo www.que.es)

Gertrud Eysoldt

Overview

Gertrud Eysoldt born Pirna, Saxony, Germany November 30, 1870 (d. 1955). Theater and film actress, drama teacher, and radio announcer. Pacifist; socialist; feminist. Key figure of German Expressionist movement with Max Reinhardt. Led internationalist program Comrades in Humanity, 1926.

Quotations

“I am broken by it—I suffer—I cry out against this extreme violence—” (reaction to first reading of von Hofmannsthal’s “Electra”, in Erika Fischer-Lichte, Theatre, Sacrifice, Ritual, 2005, p. 9; photo Berlin Theater School)