January 18

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Women peacemakers born today

  • 1882 Anna Siemsen born Westphalia, Germany (d. 1952). German; professor; peace educator; member of WILPF. Protested World Wars I and II; voted against military expansion as Socialist pacifist member of Reichstag, 1928-30; exiled from Germany, 1933; worked for European unity after WWII.

  • 1910 Edna Ramseyer Kaufman born Wayne County, OH (d. 2001). Pacifist college professor and dean who opposed “the Good War” (WWII); got women into Civilian Public Service; aided Spanish refugee children Marseille 1940.

  • 1930 Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo born Abrantes, Portugal (d. 2004). Chemical engineer; Portuguese ambassador to UNESCO, 1975; Portuguese Prime Minister, 1979; first female candidate for Portuguese presidency, 1986; member of European Parliament, 1987; signatory of leaders' declaration on abolition of nuclear weapons, 1998.

  • 1949 Penny Rosenwasser. American Jewish peace activist; author, folk musician; organizer. Co-founded Jewish Voice for Peace, 1996.

  • 1952 Rita Thapa born Kathmandu, Nepal Peacemaker. Served as mediator during Maoist insurgency, 2001. Founded Nagarik Aawaz (“The Voice of the Citizen”) for conflict transformation and peacebuilding, 2001. Ashoka Fellow, 1998; Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

  • 1957 Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas born St. Julian’s, Malta. Maltese lawyer specializing in European law; involved in drafting European constitution 2004, Lisbon Treaty 2007; legal adviser to first European Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton 2012-4; member European Parliament 2013; co-author of report on refugee crisis 2016.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1867 Lucretia Mott co-founded Pennsylvania Peace Society.

  • 1968 Eartha Kitt spoke out against the Vietnam War at White House luncheon.

  • 1982 Greenham women "keened" in wordless protest outside Houses of Parliament.

  • 2001 Barbara River and Sylvia Boyes acquitted of trying to damage HMS Vengeance at Barrow-in-Furness in 1999 Trident Protest.

  • 2003 67-year-old Angela Broome arrested for painting bloody protest sign on Northwood Military Base, England.

  • 2003 Two women in pink protested against war outside White House.

  • 2004 World Court of Women on U.S. War Crimes, Mumbai, India.