Bessie Rischbeith

Overview

Bessie M. Rischbieth (née Earle) born Adelaide, Australia October 16, 1874 (d. 1967). Australian social reformer and feminist leader; peace activist; theosophist. Sculptor and textile designer. Delegate to League of Nations, 1935. Witnessed and supported suffragist struggle, London, 1908. Visited Gandhi's ashram. Led protests against abuse of aborigines. Blocked bulldozers in environmental protest at Narrows Bridge, Perth, 1963.

Quotations

There are women on the warpath
And we mean to make it plain, 
That dictatorial parties
Won't get our vote again!

(1964 poem, in Theosophy in Australia, June 1998, Vol. 62, no. 2; photo Wikipedia)