Helena Knapp-Meyer born London, England August 14, 1948. American professor of peace studies; author. Co-founded Nuclear Freeze, 1980; published Dangerous Peace-Making, 2003.
"Peace must be dared. Peace is inevitable. Every war will end." (Dangerous Peace-Making, 2003; photo Evergreen State College)
Elizabeth Knight born Northfleet, Kent, England August 31, 1869 (d. 1933). Pacifist, Quaker physician and suffrage leader. Arrested for suffrage protest to Prime Minister Asquith, 1908. Twice imprisoned for tax refusal. Arrested for leading suffrage protest at Parliament, 1913. Barred from attending International Women's Peace Conference, The Hague, 1915. Treasurer, Woman’s Freedom League, which opposed World War I and advocated nonviolent tactics, 1913-33.
Anneliese Knoop-Graf born Kuchenheim, Germany January 30, 1921 (d. 2009). Leader of White Rose resistance group against Hitler, 1942-43.
"Everyone is called to do something." (Blieskastel, Feb. 21, 2005; 2007 photo de.Wikipedia)
Eva Kollisch born Vienna, Austria August 17, 1925. American poet and professor of comparative literature. Feminist lesbian peace activist; anti-Stalinist Marxist Trotskyite. Escaped Germany in Childrens’ Transport, 1940. Arrested for anti-Vietnam protests. Took part in Seneca Peace demo; Women in Black vigiler. Received Clara Lemlich Award for Social Activism, 2016.
“Not our sons, not your sons, not their sons.” (antiwar sign in vigil, Greenwich Village, Kate Wigand interview, Feb. 2004, Smith College Oral History, p. 24)
“I, as a pacifist, abhor that war [in Palestine], and I abhor suicide bombings, of course, and military action and the destruction of people’s homes—it’s all a nightmare, and I always think, there’s got to be another way.” (Ibid., p.40; photo Hamiltonstone.org)
Maria Aurora Königsmarck born Stade, Sweden August 28, 1662 (d. 1728). Famous German courtesan; musician; diplomat; countess. Rescued disappeared brother on mission to Courland, 1702.
Clementine Kraemer (née Cahnmann) born Rheinbischofsheim, Baden, Germany October 7, 1873 (d. 1942). Leading German pacifist writer; popular novelist and poet. Unable to find refuge abroad, she died at Theresienstadt concentration camp.
"The most famous Jewish pacifist was Jesus of Nazareth." (Sholem Aleichem, Elizabeth Loentz, Women in German Yearbook, 2007, p.137; photo gedenkbuch neu-isenberg)
Martina Gezina Kramers born Veur, Holland June 24, 1863 (d. 1935). Dutch internationalist, feminist, social democrat; spoke 12 languages; founded International Correspondence which got attention to women's issues in League of Nations and ILO.
"Due to sustained pressure by feminist lobbyists at the end of the war, the political leaders who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles did include a provision on behalf of equal pay for equal work, and the treaty made specific provision for the inclusion of women in the work of the International Labour Organization and the League of Nations. But it was one thing to put the words into a treaty and another thing to make them a reality—as we know all too well today. Equal pay for equal work is no April Fool’s joke but an essential requirement en route to gender equity." (early 1918, in Karen Offen, International Museum of Women, April 2010; photo iisg.nl)
Mina Kruseman born Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands September 25, 1839 (d. 1922). Pioneering Dutch feminist and pacifist; militant feminist; concert singer named "Oristorio di Frama"; grew up in Dutch East Indies; author, including book on marriage in Indonesia (1872); daughter of military officer, she opposed Franco-German war 1870 and First World War.
"We, the women of the world, do not want war more and we will do everything we can to prevent it in the future." (1916 pamphlet, Kunstbus.nl; photo mareonline.nl)
Leopoldine Kulka born Vienna, Austria March 31, 1872 (d. 1920). Austrian feminist and writer. Founding member of WILPF; first editor of International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) magazine Jus Suffragii. Founded Austrian Women's Federation peace party, 1917.
"This is the woman’s task: to oppose the principle of mutual help in every sphere to the principle of strife, in the relations between individuals, between classes, between the sexes, between nations, between States, between races." (Jus Suffragii, April 1, 1915, p. 289; photo peoplecheck.de)
Gertrud Kurz-Hohl born Lűtzenberg, Switzerland March 15, 1890 (d. 1972). Heroine of the Holocaust; founder and leader of Swiss refugee relief in World War II. Known as the "Mother of Refugees." Leader in Youth Action for Peace and Christian Peace Corps. Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, 1961, 1962; awarded Albert Schweitzer Prize, 1965.
“Actually we should have sat down on the steps of the Parliament building and refused to go away until the asylum policy was made more humane.” (The Righteous of Switzerland, 2000, vol. II, p. 31; photo Seniorweb.ch)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
