Anna Langford born Springfield, OH October 27, 1917 (d. 2008). Civil rights lawyer; marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.; first woman on Chicago city council, 1971-91.
"You live violently; you die violently." (Jet, June 1, 1976; photo Af. Amer. Registry)
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)
Esther Everett Lape born Wilmington, DE October 8, 1881 (d. 1981). Visionary journalist; publicist; professor; peace researcher; activist. Founding member of League of Women Voters; administered Bok Peace Prize, 1923; author of Ways to Peace, 1924; informal presidential envoy to Europe on World Court, 1927; collaborator and mentor of Eleanor Roosevelt on international affairs; led campaign for World Court, 1923-35; promoted universal health care.
"There is a profound realization that there must be a better way than war and that we must help find it." (Ways to Peace, p. 6; photo Eleanor Roosevelt papers)
Frances Moore Lappé born Pendleton, OR February 10, 1944. Author; activist; advocate for social change and sustainable living. Graduate of Quaker Earlham College, 1966. Wrote best-selling book Diet for a Small Planet, 1971. Recipient of Right Livelihood Award, 1987.
“I had supported the U.S. position on the Vietnam War for years, finally I became too uncomfortable merely accepting the government's word. I set out to discover the facts for myself. Why were we fighting? I read everything I could find on U.S. government policy in Vietnam. Within a few weeks, my world began to turn upside down. I was in shock. I functioned, but in a daze. I had grown up believing my government represented me—my basic ideals. Now I was learning that 'my' government was not mine at all.” (Diet for a Small Planet, 1971)
“What an extraordinary time to be alive. We’re the first people on our planet to have real choice: We can choose death; or we can choose life.” (Robert Shetterly, Americans Who Tell The Truth, 2005; 2009 photo Wikipedia)
Rita Lasar (née Rabecca Zelmanowitz) born Cleveland, OH September 16, 1931 (d. 2017). As sister of 9/11 victim, co-founded September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, opposing violent response to 9/11, 2002. Opposed Iraq War, Guantanamo, and the bombing of Afghanistan.
“I realized that my government was going to use my brother as justification for killing other people, and that had a tremendous impact on me. I didn’t want that to happen, not in my brother’s name.” (Democracy Now, Sept. 12, 2011; photo peacefultomorrows)
Berta Lask born Wadowice, Poland November 17, 1878 (d. 1967). German communist poet and dramatist. Feminist; pacifist. Wrote anti-war poems in World War I and novels in Weimar Germany. Critic of industrial pollution. Exiled to USSR, 1933; returned to East Germany, 1953.
I carry my child through blossoms and sunshine
I carry my child through seas of blood and horror
Who hears my soul’s distant cries?
Will my child ever see the brighter suns and stars?
(“Woman”; photo literatur.port.de)
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)
Julia Clifford Lathrop born Rockford, IL June 29, 1858 (d. 1932). Social reformer; associate of Jane Addams at Hull House; co-founded Immigrants' Protective League 1912; first head of U.S. Children's Bureau; worked with League of Nations Child Welfare Committee of 1925-31.
"The least a democratic nation can do, when it sends men into war, is to give solemn assurance that their families will be cared for." (Ida Clarke, American Women and the World War, p.75, 1918; photo socialwelfarehistory.com)
Emily Lau Wai-hing born Hong Kong January 21, 1952. Journalist and politician; pro-democracy advocate. Member of Legislative Council, 1991. Chair of Democratic Party, 2012. Arrested for democracy protests, 1996, 2014.
“People like me have been fighting for genuine universal suffrage for many years. . . The political dissatisfaction of Hong Kong society is on the verge of eruption.” (Peace and Freedom, June 20, 2015; photo hk-magazine.com)
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)
Maria Lavalle Urbina born Campeche, Mexico May 24, 1908 (d. 1996). Mexican lawyer and educator; first woman president of Mexican Senate 1965; won second round UN Human rights prize 1973; chair UN Committee on Status of Women 1963.
Avril Lavigne born Belleville, Ontario, Canada September 27, 1984. Canadian antiwar singer-songwriter, promoter of Amnesty International campaign to save Darfur.
"I don't believe war is a way to solve problems. I think it's wrong. I don't have respect for the people that made the decisions to go on with war." (April 9, 2003)
Carmen Lawrence born Northam, Western Australia March 2, 1948. Psychology professor and politician. First woman Premier of Australian state, 1990-93; Member of National Parliament, 1994-2007. Minister of Health and Women, 1997. Opposed Iraq War; strong advocate for refugees.
“I've seen no evidence despite Colin Powell's descriptions last night of the massing of arms. It's quite clear the only reason the United States is contemplating attacking Iraq is because they believe they can't retaliate. So none of the arguments is convincing.” (PM, Feb. 6, 2003)
“I want to make a few broad and bold statements about my beliefs on war and peace. Firstly that deadly conflict is not inevitable. It may seem strange to say that but I believe it’s important to repeat. It doesn’t emerge inexorably from human interaction. We’re not condemned by our natures to settle disputes with violence. We can be peaceful.
"Secondly, the means to prevent deadly conflict is increasingly urgent, especially given the spread or more and more lethal weapons.
"Thirdly, its not that we don’t understand the roots of deadly conflict, but that we don’t act to preserve the peace.” (Australian Ministry of Peace, March 1, 2003; photo john.curtin.edu.org)
Margaret Morgan Lawrence born New York, NY August 19, 1914. African-American child psychiatrist. Daughter of Episcopal minister. Pacifist in World War II and Cold War. Active member of Fellowship of Reconciliation. Oldest pilgrim on Anglican Peace Fellowship 85-mile pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, 1988. Received Fellowship of Reconciliation Martin Luther King Jr Award, 2005.
“The Peace of the Lord be with you!” (her greeting on pilgrimage; photo cumc.columbia.edu)
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)
Emma Lazarus born Manhattan, NY July 22, 1849 (d. 1887). Poetess who wrote sonnet for base of Statue of Liberty.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
("New Colossus", 1883; photo Wikipedia)
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin born Berkeley, CA October 21, 1929. Novelist; organized protests against nuclear bomb and Vietnam War.
"[Armies are] a coercive mechanism of extraordinary inefficiency. . . the purpose was to enable men with machine-guns to kill unarmed men and women. . . he could not see where courage, or manliness, or fitness entered in." (Dispossessed, p. 253, 1974; photo 3 River Tech Review)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
