Marjorie Swann Edwin

Overview

Marjorie Swann Edwin (née Schaffer) born Cedar Rapids, IA February 15, 1921. Quaker peace activist for seven decades. New England director of AFSC; founder of CORE; Coordinator of New England Committee for Nonviolent Action. Helped organize Omaha Action against nuclear missiles, Quebec-Guantanamo Walk, Polaris Action, San Francisco-Moscow Walk. First arrested at British Embassy in Washington DC over protest against Gandhi's imprisonment; later imprisoned for six months for civil disobedience. During one jail term, underwent 22-month liquid-only fast.

Eileen Egan

Overview

Eileen Egan born Pontypridd, Wales December 27, 1911 (d. 2000). American nonviolent peace leader; opposed nuclear weapons; promoted refugee relief during WWII; founded Pax Christi, 1972; supported Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez.

Quotations

"You can take course after course of so-called theology and never hear the message at the heart of Christianity—the message of Jesus, which is indiscriminate love." (photo pbs.org)

Barbara Ehrenreich

Overview

Barbara Ehrenreich born Butte, MT August 26, 1941. PhD biologist; feminist and activist; Democratic Socialist; columnist who opposed Vietnam War and wrote important book Blood Rites on the nature of war 1997.

Quotations

"Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots." (The Worst Years of Our Lives, 1991; photo New York Times)

Anne H. Ehrlich

Overview

Anne H. Ehrlich born Des Moines, IA November 17, 1933. Environmental scientist. With her husband Paul, co-authored works on overpopulation and environment.

Quotations

“Even if only key military sites of a major power were targeted in a modest-sized attack, the civilian population would nevertheless suffer millions of prompt casualties from blast, fire, and radioactive fallout. . . 5 to 12 percent of its population—some 12 to 30 million in either case—could be killed by immediate effects. . . In the event of a full-scale nuclear war. . . the outlook for humanity’s future would be much bleaker than it is today.” (with John W. Birks “If Deterrence Ails: Nuclear Winter and Ultraviolet Spring”, Hidden Dangers: Environmental Consequences of Preparing for War, 1990, pp. 138, 140; photo Stabroek News)

Ingrid Eide

Overview

Ingrid Eide born Oslo, Norway July 12, 1933. Norwegian sociologist, co-founder of International Peace Research Institute; UN official 1987-93; member of parliament; founded No to Nuclear Weapons.

Quotations

"The opposite [of war] would be community, co-operation and trust, skills in non-violent conflict management, the ability and will to (re-)construct and to preserve." (Tromsø, May 6, 2000; photo prio.no)

Elisabeth Eidenbenz

Overview

Elisabeth Eidenbenz born Wila, Zürich, Switzerland June 12, 1913 (d. 2011). Swiss humanitarian; teacher; aided children refugees from Spanish Civil War 1937; established maternity refuge France 1939; aid to Jewish women in World War II won Righteous Among the Nations award 2002.

Quotations

"They called me and I went. I did not think much of it. It was fortunate to be able to do what had to be done.” (EcuRed: Eidenbenz)

"My greatest satisfaction is that motherhood will become an island of peace in the midst of the hell of war; in an oxygen cylinder to pull forward, to continue living." (1325 Mujeres Tejiendo la Paz; photo sapiens.cat)

Riane Eisler

Overview

Riane Eisler (née Tennenbaum) born Vienna, Austria July 22, 1931. American cultural historian; peace educator, author Educating for a Culture of Peace 2002.

Quotations

“I pray for a world where we live in partnership rather than domination; where 'man's conquest of nature' is recognized as suicidal and sacrilegious; where power is no longer equated with the blade, but with the holy chalice: the ancient symbol of the power to give, nurture, enhance life. And I not only pray, but actively work, for the day when it will be so.” (The Chalice and the Blade, 1989; photo saiv.org)

Kajsa Ekis Ekman

Overview

Kajsa “Ekis” Ekman born Stockholm, Sweden July 25, 1980. Swedish feminist journalist; illegally seized on high seas by Israeli navy aboard “Marianne”, imprisoned a week in Israel for Freedom Flotilla III nonviolent protest, 2015.

Quotations

"I'm hoping that the Israelis actually understand that it would create a lot of more goodwill for them if they actually let the boats through, because there's no reason for them not to do that. It's counterproductive in the end. . . I think they've totally lost common-sense here, because really it's not a threat to bring in medical equipment, to bring in medicine, to bring in solar panels." (Al-Jazeera, June 19, 2015; photo leapardforlag.se)

Lijon Eknilang

Overview

Lijon Eknilang born Rongelap, Marshall Islands March 1, 1946 (d. 2012). International advocate against nuclear weapons; victim of hydrogen bomb testing; suffered eight miscarriages. Testified at World Court, 1995.

Quotations

"My purpose for travelling such a great distance to appear before the Court today, is to plead with you to do what you can not to allow the suffering that we Marshallese have experienced to be repeated in any other community in the world. While no government or other organization can fully restore the health of the Marshallese people or our environment, steps can be taken which will make it less likely that the same kinds of horrors will be experienced again. I know first-hand what the devastating effects of nuclear weapons are over time and over long distances, and what those effects mean to innocent human beings over several generations. . . The story of the Marshallese people since the nuclear weapons tests has been sad and painful." (November 14, 1995; photo optimalprediction.com)

Florence Eldridge

Overview

Florence Eldridge March (née McKechnie) born Brooklyn, NY September 5, 1901 (d. 1988). Celebrated actress, co-founder Congress of American Women (CAW) 1946 opposing Cold War, NATO and a-bomb; CAW was condemned as "Communist hoax" by Congressional un-American activities committee; leaders included wife of Republican governor Gifford Pinchot and Susan B. Anthony II.

Quotations

"[I]n view of the war danger fomented by American monopolists, American women bore a special responsibility. It stressed the need to mobilize the broadest sections of women to fight for peace. The convention demanded that the atom bomb should be outlawed. . . and the Atlantic Pact be annulled." (report of founding convention in House, "Report on Congress of American Women." p. 63, 1949; photo Wikipedia)

Martha May Eliot

Overview

Martha May Eliot born Dorchester, MA April 7, 1891 (d. 1978). Pediatrician pioneer in World Health; only woman signer of World Health Organization charter 1946; promoter of international children's health; helped found UNICEF; alternate delegate to League of Nations conference on child welfare; lifelong partner of Dr. Ethel Dunham; founded first US children's advocacy org. 1959.

Quotations

"[C]hildren have the inherent right to be safe from abuse, neglect, and violence." (1959, masskids.org; photo nlm.nih.gov)

Elisabeth of the Palatinate

Overview

Elisabeth of the Palatinate AKA Elisabeth of Bohemia born Heidelberg, Palatinate Germany December 26, 1618 (d. 1680). Philosopher Princess; Abbess of Herford; Labadist (Christian communist); correspondent with Quakers Fox, Barclay and Penn; philosophers Descartes, Spinoza.

Quotations

“I hope never to need to follow the precepts of the ‘physician of princes’ [Machiavelli], because violence and suspicion go against my grain.” (to Descartes, Nov. 29, 1646; 1636 portrait Wikipedia)

Edith Maud Ellis

Overview

Edith Maud Ellis born Nottinghamshire, England January 6, 1878 (d. 1963). Quaker; absolute pacifist; daughter of MP. Served as president of British WILPF; led Friends Service Committee, counseling those who refused conscription during World War I; acted as mediator to end Korean War; published pamphlet A Challenge to Militarism, for which she was fined £150, spent 3 months in Holloway Prison.

Quotations

"The declaration of peace and goodwill is the duty of all Christians and ought not to be dependent upon the permission of any Government Official. We therefore intend to continue the publication of such leaflets as we feel it our duty to put forth, without submitting them to the Censor." (Goliath v. David: A Short History of the Organized Peace Movement, p. 13; photo Wikipedia)

Mary Elmes

Overview

Mary Elmes born Cork, Ireland May 5, 1908 (d. 2002). Irish nurse. Served as nurse for Quaker American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) during Spanish Civil War, 1937-39. Arrested, 1943; jailed six months. Received Righteous Among the Nations Award for saving lives of Jewish children in France during WWII under auspices of AFSC.

Quotations

“We all suffered inconveniences in those days, didn’t we?” (Rosemary Bailey, The Story Continues; photo db.yadvashem.org)

Scilla Elworthy

Overview

Scilla Elworthy born Galashiels, Scotland June 3, 1943. Founded Oxford Research Group for peace dialog 1982; started Peace Direct 2003 supporting local peacemaking; first S. African multiracial theater; began campaign against genital mutilation 1978; Niwano Peace Prize 2003; international relations scholar.

Quotations

"[I]nclude women in preventing and resolving violence. Why? Because all over the world women have shown that they're good at it." (Resurgence, Nov. 2005; photo Wikipedia)

Gloria Emerson

Overview

Gloria Emerson born New York, NY May 19, 1926 (d. 2004). New York Times war correspondent, reporting from Vietnam, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, and Gaza.

Quotations

“Americans cannot perceive—even the most decent among us—the suffering caused by the United States air war in Indochina and how huge are the graveyards we have created there. . . As Anthony Lewis once wrote, our military technology is so advanced that we kill at a distance and insulate our consciences by the remoteness of the killing.” (NY Review, Aug. 10, 1972; photo PBS)

Eleanor Jean Emery

Overview

Eleanor Jean Emery born Glasgow, Scotland December 23, 1918 (d. 2007). First woman to head a British diplomatic mission, to Botswana, 1973. (photo Glasgow U.)

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)

Eve Ensler

Overview

Eve Ensler born Scarsdale, NY May 25, 1953. Playwright author of anti-violence play "The Vagina Monologues" (2000); pacifist author and filmmaker opposed Afghanistan and Iraq wars; danced can-can at Nevada nuclear test site in 1987 protesting resumption of nuclear tests.

Quotations

"We all have the capacity for great goodness and love, and we all have the capacity for terrible deeds." (Janelle Brown interview, Nov. 26, 2001; photo Wikipedia)

Mary Eoloff

Overview

Mary Eoloff (née Bunting) born February 25, 1932 (d. 2014) Quaker teacher and peace activist. Founded Minnesota Pax Christi, 1980; co-founded Peace Studies Task Force; active in Newman Overground Railroad. Protested School of the Americas; member of Middle East Peace Now; took 13 trips to Israel to adopt Mordechai Vanunu; supported people of Guatemala and Palestine. Opposed nuclear weapons.

Quotations

"Here we have this beautiful world. . . the idea of destroying it in an afternoon is insane." (Paynesville Press, Jan. 15, 2003; photo startribune.com)