Divina Levrini (née Carin Anelli) born Sweden June 24, 1979. Swedish singer; human rights activist. Seized, beaten, and deported by Israel on Boat to Gaza Al-Awda (“Return”), 2018.
“There is a genocide going on by an apartheid regime and the world must act, even if it happens in small acts like these.” (Albawba News, Aug. 5, 2018; photo freedom flotilla)
Gyrithe Lemche (née Ellen Gyrithe Frisch) born Copenhagen, Denmark April 17, 1866 (d. 1945). “Moses of the Women’s Cause.” Danish novelist and suffragist. Danish delegate to Women's Peace Congress, 1915. Campaigned with women’s association for peace, 1916, and for League of Nations, 1918. Founding member of WILPF forerunner Women’s Peace Chain, 1917.
“It is not novel-writing ladies that the women’s cause needs. No, what we need are campaigners, women with intuition, prophets in women’s clothing.” (Tempeltjenere, Beth Johnson, “Moses of the Women’s Cause”, Dec. 19, 2001; photo pinterest.com)
Ulla Lindström (née Wollin) born Kungsholm Parish, Stockholm, Sweden September 15, 1909 (d. 1999). Swedish politician, school teacher, editor, and feminist. Successfully opposed acquiring nuclear weapons, 1955; Delegate to UN General Assembly, 1947-66, drafting Human Rights Declaration, anti-Apartheid; directed foreign aid “Sweden Helps”, 1953. Chair of Save the Children, 1971-89. Social Democrat only woman in cabinet, Minister of Family and Aid, 1954-66, resigned over foreign aid cut. As first minister for foreign aid, pioneered international family planning and technical assistance; nominated WILPF.
“Public opinion. . . is impatient with those paltry collection boxes at meetings about Congo refugees, lepers in Ethiopia and what-have-you. Why, it wonders, doesn’t the government give substantial aid, enough to really help? . . . The government has been sowing the wind. I have been sowing the wind. Soon we shall reap the storm.” (1960, in Tor Sellström, Sweden and National Liberation, p. 66; photo discogs)
Mia Leche Löfgren (née Ebba Leche) born Lund, Sweden October 10, 1878 (d. 1966). Swedish pacifist author and journalist. Biographer of famous pacifists Ellen Key and Carl von Ossietsky. Vice-President of Swedish Women’s Peace League. Delegate to Women's Peace Congress, 1915, chronicled in her At the Women’s Congress, 1917. Reported on the League of Nations in Federation of Nations, 1925. Co-founder of Committee for Prisoners of War in Siberia.
On the Hague Conference: “[F]or these women there did not seem to exist any national counterparts, they knew and thought as a world citizen. And from everyone's lips the words sounded: we do not want any other benefits for our country than those which can be won without the losses of other countries, for us exists no word for victory, as long as it means defeat to our neighbors.” (Inga-Brita Melin, Lysistrata’s Daughters, p. 145; photo wikipedia)
Gerd von der Lippe born Norway November 16, 1942. Norwegian professor of sports sociology; feminist and journalist. Organized Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC); arrested by Israel in international waters aboard Al-Awda (“Return”), 2018.
“The UN has stated that the Israeli blockade is a 'violation of international law' . . . The most important work for the FFC is to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Two million Palestinian people there are living in hell in the largest detention centre in the world. The Israelis are conducting a mass psychological experiment and this is a global crime, which the FFC continues to fight against in a non-violent way.” (Memo: Middle East Monitor, Aug. 28, 2018; photo twitter.com)
Léonie La Fontaine born Brussels, Belgium October 2, 1857 (d. 1949). Belgian feminist; pacifist; WILPF founding member.
"A lame peace would only cause new wars in a short time. I hope that the women of all the neutral countries see the dawn in each country a great demonstration in favor of Peace, and when Peace is signed all the women of the belligerent countries will join to create a formidable League which will not cease to work for universal Peace, and universal disarmament!" (April 26, 1915; http://bit.ly/wXsIZv)
“However, a day will come, and we do so strongly hope so, that women are called to stand besides men. On that day, and we are convinced of it, war will become impossible. On that day, militarism and imperialism will stop and we will be able to write in golden letters on the walls of our parliaments: ‘The United States of Europe.’” (Vrouwen in de Geschiedenis van Belgie—Google Arts & Culture, thanks to Sofia Sitvast; photo Wikicommons)
Hedwig Lachmann born Stolp, Pomerania, Germany August 29, 1863 (d. 1918). German Jewish poet; shared pacifist anarchist views of husband Gustav Landauer; opposed World War I.
In tribute to nonviolent philosopher Tolstoy:
Like a prophet of the old covenant, altogether
Full of love in his grimness,
He raised a warning, as if from his mouth,
And yet, his voice is still healing.
Two [things] were powerful to him: the people and God.
(”Tolstoi”; photo ngyaw)
Margarethe Lachmund (née Grobbecker) born Woldegk, Mecklenburg September 17, 1896 (d. 1985). German Quaker who led north German aid to Jews; arrested in postwar East Germany; opposed postwar conscription and nuclear weapons.
"I have had the deepest fellowship with people beyond all national boundaries." (Leonard Kenworthy, Some Quaker Pioneers, vol. II, p. 177, 1985; photo quaekernachrichten)
Selma Lagerlöf born Mårbacka, Sweden November 20, 1858 (d. 1950). Swedish author; won Nobel Prize for Literature, 1909; opposed World War I; pacifist novel The Outcast published 1918; signed Anti-Conscription Manifesto, 1930; aided victims of Finnish War and Nazi refugees.
"Learn to keep my fifth commandment, which is the commandment of love of neighbor and the key to all the others! Tell them that my millennium hanging in the east as a dawn! But how can it rise to heaven and tell the world, as long as I allowed Death to take his post in the big beast? For the great beast is war." (The Outcast, conclusion of Fifth Commandment; photo 1909 wiki pd)
Catherine Lalumière born Rennes, France August 3, 1936. Secretary General Council of Europe 1989-94; Vice President European Movement International.
"The State should be the principal custodian of human rights; its role is to respect and enforce those rights. But experience teaches us that it can be not only the protector, but also the gravedigger of human rights." (July 1993, UN Human Rights Conference, Vienna; photo Jean Monnet Foundation)
Barbara Heinemann Landmann born Leitersweiler, Alsace, Germany January 11, 1795 (d. 1883). Founder of utopian pacifist community Amana Society, 1854; sole leader, 1867-83. (photo Noé House, Amana 1864, http://bit.ly/A0tIyu)
Ilse Langner born Breslau, Germany May 21, 1899 (d. 1987). German antiwar playwright and poet. Left Germany to travel Asia after Nazi regime instituted a ban on her works. Her first play “Mrs. Emma fights on the Homefront” blamed men for war, 1929; “Clytemnestra” offered an alternative feminist society of peace and gender equality, 1937.
”But your war was a bloody madness of men!” (“Mrs. Emma fights on the Homefront”; photo escritorasypensadores)
Jeanne Carolina van Lanschot Hubrecht born Breda, Netherlands June 18, 1865 (d. 1918). International pioneer in mental health nursing. Helped organize International Women's Peace Conference, The Hague, 1914. Editor of first women’s peace newsletter Internationaal, 1916. Advocated an end to war as an alternative to war nursing.
“Would it not be better to just stop?” (Leo von Bergen, “'Would it not be better to just stop?' Dutch medical aid in World War I and the medical anti-war movement in the interwar years”, First World War Studies, October 2011, pp. 176-7; photo J.W. Wenzel)
Else Lasker-Schüler born Elberfeld, Rhineland, Germany February 11, 1869 (d. 1945). German Expressionist poet, playwright, “Queen of Berlin” (Claire Goll); wrote pacifist novel Der Malik during war, published 1919; arrested 4 times 1914 for showing off in gala war costume.
“[Malik refused war, loyal to a ruler] who had attempted to bring about peace by fatherly love for his own people, and therefore also out of fatherly understanding for the foreign nations.” (Der Malik, p. 447 per Inca Rumold, “Der Malik”, Women in German Yearbook 14, p. 152; photo Wikipedia)
Marghanita Laski born Manchester, England October 24, 1915 (d. 1988). English novelist and playwright; radio journalist; leading contributor to OED. Active opponent of nuclear weapons through Committee for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Authored play The Offshore Island about nuclear war survivors, 1959.
"People. . . have found something living for. . . Living in peace with our families." (The Offshore Island, p. 53)
Caroline "Bokken" Lasson born Oslo, Norway January 7, 1871 (d. 1970). Norwegian singer and actress; follower of Gandhian nonviolence; wrote book on her 1931 visit to Gandhi; founded Norwegian Friends of India Society, 1932.
"The sum total of the activities of the European nations is a denial of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount will not, I think, be gainsaid. I. . . emphasize the necessary caution against our being lifted off our feet by the dazzle and glitter of European arms. If the foregoing picture were the whole of Europe it would be sad for Europe as for the world. Fortunately there is a considerable body of men and women of Europe who are devoting the whole of their energy to combat the war-fever and the breathless pursuit after material wealth and enjoyment." (1924, http://bit.ly/wAXvK7; 1894 photo http://bit.ly/wAXvK7)
Irène Laure born Lausanne, Switzerland September 18, 1898 (d. 1987). French Resistance fighter; first woman member of parliament (Socialist) 1946; led reconciliation with Germany.
"One cannot forget, but one can forgive." (Michael Henderson, All Her Paths, p. 22, 1994; photo iofc.org)
Marianne Laxén born Helsinki, Finland June 9, 1945. Finnish feminist peacemaker; chair WILPF Finland; active since 1970 in peace movement (Finnish Peace Union); democratic socialist, Vice President Socialist International Women; expert in Swedish ministry of gender equality 2001-10; adviser to Nordic Council.
“The first strong fighters are usually not elected themselves, but they are needed to pave way for those coming behind. Change can be brought about from a position of power, and it is these positions that women need to get to.” (“North to North: Women as Agents of Change”, 2011, p. 9; photo gamla.hbl.fi)
Cécile Lecomte born Épinal, Vosges, France December 8, 1981. French environmental advocate and anti-nuclear activist. Called “The Squirrel” for climbing trees and bridges to protest and “air-aerobatics against nuclear transport.”
“Nuclear power is not a solution to climate change. Nuclear power is a criminal industry that causes many victims worldwide!” (L’équreuille: actions; photo linkedin.fr)
Ann Lee (née Stanley) born Manchester, England February 29, 1736 (d. 1784). Founding mother of pacifist and nonviolent Shaker movement. Arrested for persuading men not to fight in American Revolution, 1780; accused of treason, jailed 5 months.
“You never can enter the kingdom of God with hard feelings against any one. For God is love; and if you love God, you will love one another.” (Frederick Evans, Ann Lee, 1859, p. 149; photo http://bit.ly/Iz3pM4)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
