Thania Paffenholz

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Overview

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Thania Paffenholz born Cologne, Germany February 2, 1956. International peace researcher, mediator, and adviser. Director, Inclusive Peace and Transition Initiative, Geneva; founding director Center for Peacebuilding at Swisspeace, Bern. Awarded Wihuri International Prize, 2015.

Quotations

“If you have a women’s only delegation at the negotiation table, these are usually the activists. From them, you can expect more [of a] push on [the] deep roots of conflict, [and] gender issues. . . [The key point], is to get these activists into positions of decision-making power, which they often do not have. More women do not equal more peace automatically. In order for inclusiveness to translate into the intended results, better peace process design and a consideration of the social, cultural context is necessary.” (International Peace Institute, Oct. 26, 2016; photo wikipedia)

Susana Pacara

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Overview

Susana Pacara born Chayanta, Potosí, Bolivia May 30, 1965. Quechuan radio journalist and nonviolent organizer. Co-founded Radio Lachiwana in Cochabamba; stood up to government oppression in Coca War, 1993; organized march for dignity, 1994, national march for land and territory, 1996; fought privatization of water system by American Bechtel corporation, 2000.

Quotations

"If you're going to die, you're going to die for the cause." (Waging Nonviolence, April 1, 2014)

Biannca Pace

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Overview

Biannca Pace born Rhyll, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia March 15, 1953. First head of non-official Australian Ministry for Peace, 2005. Organized Sydney Peace Festival, 2009.

Quotations

“[T]he theme this year is ‘Let Peace Prevail on Earth. . . Over the 14-hour period, Sydney will join the United Nations’ global call for ceasefire and non-violence. . . People of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and religions will hear and talk about the ideals of peace, the cost of war and celebrate the benefits of resolving disputes peacefully.” (Ministry for Peace, 21 Days, Sept 2009; photo mfpa.org.au)

Maysoon Pachachi

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Overview

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Maysoon Pachachi born Washington DC September 17, 1947. Co-founded Act Together: Women Against Sanctions and War with Iraq, 2000. Film director and editor; documented Iraq occupation and the Algerian war.

Quotations

“What people needed was justice, but they got revenge and that creates more violence.” (Financial Times, March 12, 2013)

"I think there's a difference between being an optimist and having hope. And you can't lose hope." (quote and photo The Guardian, April 30, 2009)

Sarah Saunders Page

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Overview

Sarah Saunders Page born Waimea South, Nelson, New Zealand August 26, 1863 (d. 1950). New Zealand peace leader; Quaker feminist, Socialist; led opposition to conscription World War I in Canterbury Women’s Institute; led No More War movement 1930.

Quotations

”Our contention is that war is all atrocity. It is the supreme national and international crime. It is the insanity of the age which regards brute force as the deciding power.” (May 17, 1916, to prime minister; quote and photo Voices Against War)

Violet Paget

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Overview

Violet Paget born Boulogne, France October 14, 1856 (d. 1935). British internationalist; pacifist author under the pseudonym Vernon Lee; lesbian; suffragist. Took strong stand against WWI, joining antiwar Union of Democratic Control. Published Peace with Honour: Controversial Notes on the Settlement,which prophetically renounced reparations, 1915; The Ballet of the Nations; A Present-Day Morality, an illustrated satanic dance of war, followed by a long philosophical commentary, 1915; Satan the Waster: A Philosophic War Trilogy, 1920. Supported Hague Women's Peace Congress and the founding of WILPF, 1915.

Quotations

“The flagging Dancers, the bleeding Nations, weary of that stage slippery with blood and entrails, felt the wind of the wings of Pity and Indignation; and, in its pure breath, suddenly revived.” (The Ballet of the Nations; portrait jssgallery.org)

Ana Palacio

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Overview

Ana Palacio Valle Lersundi born Madrid, Spain July 22, 1948. Spanish lawyer; first woman Foreign Minister of Spain 2002-4; contributed to European Constitution; resisted Iraq War; General Counsel of World Bank 2006; member of European Parliament 1994-2002.

Quotations

"The United States has made a major mistake with Guantanamo." (Nov. 11, 2003, Telecino TV, al-Jazeera)

"One must not forget the unique role played by African women in the question of poverty eradication in Africa. In fact, African women have placed themselves in the frontline despite the many difficulties they endure." (World Bank Group; photo Wikipedia)

Grace Paley

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Overview

Grace Paley born Bronx, NY December 11, 1922 (d. 2007). Pacifist author and professor; "combative pacifist and cooperative anarchist"; held one of the first meetings opposing Vietnam War in Greenwich Village; led seven-year vigil against war; peace visit to Hanoi, 1969; arrested at White House, 1978; organized Women & Life on Earth Conference, 1980; Pentagon Protest, 1980; opposed draft, nuclear weapons, Apartheid, central American intervention.

Quotations

"The education in nonviolent direct action couldn’t have been learned without a war. It had to take a war for people to learn that things could be defied and resisted. I think that was a very important legacy of the peace movement." (Nonviolent Activist March 2000; photo http://bit.ly/wRrt44)

Nela Pamukovic

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Overview

Nela Pamuković born Šibenik, Croatia, Yugoslavia December 25, 1959. Croatian lesbian feminist and antiwar activist. Active in first regional nonviolence group, 1987; Antiwar Campaign of Croatia, 1991. Co-founded Centre for Women War Victims (ROSA), 1992.

Quotations

“Our basic human rights are fragile, and we can lose them every day if we don’t fight. . . If we fight, we have some satisfaction that we have done some good, for the benefit of women and the rest of the population. And for us, as well—we fight for our own lives.” (Global Fund for Women; photo kerrylobel.typepad.com)

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

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Overview

Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit born Allahabad, India August 18, 1900 (d. 1991). Gandhian nonviolent resister, 1919; jailed for civil disobedience 1932, 1940, 1942; Vice President WILPF India chapter. First woman president UN General Assembly, 1953; ambassador to USSR, US, UK.

Quotations

"The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war." (photo Wikipedia)

Farah Pandith

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Overview

Farah Pandith born Srinigar, India January 13, 1968. Appointed first US State Dept. Special Representative to Muslim Communities, 2009.

Quotations

"How can we provide positive alternatives, so that a young person. . . is able to find support from those who will guide them down a nonviolent path which allows for pluralism, respect for others' views." (Fletcher School, Jan. 28, 2010; 2011 photo Wikipedia)

Esther Pank

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Overview

Esther Pank (née Sylar) born February 6, 1935 (d. 2010). Organized against nuclear arms; facilitated workshops on nonviolent civil disobedience; director of National Peace Foundation's Eurasian Leadership Program. Led movement which closed nuclear power plant Shoreham, New York; arrested in Vietnam War protest St. Patrick's Cathedral, 1974; received War Resisters League 29th Annual Peace Award, 1990.

Adela Pankhurst

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Overview

Adela Pankhurst Walsh born Chorlton, Cheshire, England June 19, 1889 (d. 1961). Australian pacifist Socialist opposed to both World Wars; Women's Peace Army opposing conscription 1915; jailed for protest against food prices 1917-8; interned 1941 for opposition to World War II; anti-imperialist.

Quotations

"When years of mad slaughter have passed by, and we begin to feel the shortage of food and necessities which in our frenzy of destruction we have destroyed, and we realize that the hands to create new stores have been swept away in millions, while thousands of maimed, brutalised, maddened men will return to burden us, then we shall remember the solemn words: 'Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,' and learn that by our weapons we slay, not others only, but ourselves as well." (Put Up the Sword, 1915; photo Wikipedia)

Emmeline Pankhurst

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Overview

Emmeline Pankhurst (née Goulden) born Manchester, England July 15, 1858 (d. 1928). Militant suffrage leader whose direct action inspired Gandhi; mother of three suffragist women leaders.

Quotations

"Deeds not words." (1913)

"Our rule has always been. . . to use no violence, but rather to offer ourselves to the violence of others. . . We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers." (My Own Story, p. 129, 1914; 1913 photo Wikipedia)

Sylvia Pankhurst

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Overview

Sylvia Pankhurst born Manchester, England May 5, 1882 (d. 1960). British suffragist; Socialist-Communist. Opposed World War I; led London protest march against conscription, 1916; founded newspaper Women's Dreadnought; led protest against Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

Quotations

"Love and freedom are vital to the creation and upbringing of a child."

"When I read in the newspapers that Mrs. Pankhurst and Christabel were returning to England for a recruiting campaign, I wept. To me this seemed a tragic betrayal of the great movement to bring the mother-half of the race into the councils of the nation. . . We worked continuously for peace, in face of the bitterest opposition from old enemies, and sometimes unhappily from old friends." (Frances Saunders, The Woman Who Shot Mussolini, p. 67, 2010; photo sylviapankhurst.com)

Margaret Papandreou

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Overview

Margarita Papandreou (née Margaret Chant) born Oak Park, IL September 22, 1930. Greek first lady. Organized international feminist anti-war conference Athens Nov. 1986; contributed to end of Cold War by visit to USSR 1987; democratic Socialist.

Quotations

“Women are not at the peace table. We are not there where our commitment to peace, our capacities to find solutions through dialogue, debate, our sensitivities to human needs, human rights are sorely needed. . . The feminist movement has a vision. We understand, first of all, that we have but one earth, shared by one humanity. . . . we will make it a woman’s world, not in the sense of control, or power, or dominance, but those values that we call women-centered values, will be diffused throughout society.” (“Feminism and Political Power,” Canadian Women Studies, 1987, vol. 8, no. 2, p.82; photo y3sman.wordpress)

Therese Paquet-Sevigny

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Overview

Thérèse Paquet-Sévigny born Quebec, Canada March 3, 1939. Canadian journalist. First female UN Undersecretary, for Public Information, 1987-91.

Quotations

“The notion of peace is much more than the absence of war. When the United Nations was founded, the allies were committed to the idea that to create real peace, understanding and solidarity had to be built between the nations of the world, and this could only be achieved by an informed public. Whoever speaks of peace has to speak of mutual understanding, of dialogue, and obviously of information and communication.” (International Affairs, 1990, p.46; photo ACNU)