Lijon Eknilang

Overview

Lijon Eknilang born Rongelap, Marshall Islands March 1, 1946 (d. 2012). International advocate against nuclear weapons; victim of hydrogen bomb testing; suffered eight miscarriages. Testified at World Court, 1995.

Quotations

"My purpose for travelling such a great distance to appear before the Court today, is to plead with you to do what you can not to allow the suffering that we Marshallese have experienced to be repeated in any other community in the world. While no government or other organization can fully restore the health of the Marshallese people or our environment, steps can be taken which will make it less likely that the same kinds of horrors will be experienced again. I know first-hand what the devastating effects of nuclear weapons are over time and over long distances, and what those effects mean to innocent human beings over several generations. . . The story of the Marshallese people since the nuclear weapons tests has been sad and painful." (November 14, 1995; photo optimalprediction.com)

Florence Eldridge

Overview

Florence Eldridge March (née McKechnie) born Brooklyn, NY September 5, 1901 (d. 1988). Celebrated actress, co-founder Congress of American Women (CAW) 1946 opposing Cold War, NATO and a-bomb; CAW was condemned as "Communist hoax" by Congressional un-American activities committee; leaders included wife of Republican governor Gifford Pinchot and Susan B. Anthony II.

Quotations

"[I]n view of the war danger fomented by American monopolists, American women bore a special responsibility. It stressed the need to mobilize the broadest sections of women to fight for peace. The convention demanded that the atom bomb should be outlawed. . . and the Atlantic Pact be annulled." (report of founding convention in House, "Report on Congress of American Women." p. 63, 1949; photo Wikipedia)

Martha May Eliot

Overview

Martha May Eliot born Dorchester, MA April 7, 1891 (d. 1978). Pediatrician pioneer in World Health; only woman signer of World Health Organization charter 1946; promoter of international children's health; helped found UNICEF; alternate delegate to League of Nations conference on child welfare; lifelong partner of Dr. Ethel Dunham; founded first US children's advocacy org. 1959.

Quotations

"[C]hildren have the inherent right to be safe from abuse, neglect, and violence." (1959, masskids.org; photo nlm.nih.gov)

Elisabeth of the Palatinate

Overview

Elisabeth of the Palatinate AKA Elisabeth of Bohemia born Heidelberg, Palatinate Germany December 26, 1618 (d. 1680). Philosopher Princess; Abbess of Herford; Labadist (Christian communist); correspondent with Quakers Fox, Barclay and Penn; philosophers Descartes, Spinoza.

Quotations

“I hope never to need to follow the precepts of the ‘physician of princes’ [Machiavelli], because violence and suspicion go against my grain.” (to Descartes, Nov. 29, 1646; 1636 portrait Wikipedia)

Edith Maud Ellis

Overview

Edith Maud Ellis born Nottinghamshire, England January 6, 1878 (d. 1963). Quaker; absolute pacifist; daughter of MP. Served as president of British WILPF; led Friends Service Committee, counseling those who refused conscription during World War I; acted as mediator to end Korean War; published pamphlet A Challenge to Militarism, for which she was fined £150, spent 3 months in Holloway Prison.

Quotations

"The declaration of peace and goodwill is the duty of all Christians and ought not to be dependent upon the permission of any Government Official. We therefore intend to continue the publication of such leaflets as we feel it our duty to put forth, without submitting them to the Censor." (Goliath v. David: A Short History of the Organized Peace Movement, p. 13; photo Wikipedia)

Mary Elmes

Overview

Mary Elmes born Cork, Ireland May 5, 1908 (d. 2002). Irish nurse. Served as nurse for Quaker American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) during Spanish Civil War, 1937-39. Arrested, 1943; jailed six months. Received Righteous Among the Nations Award for saving lives of Jewish children in France during WWII under auspices of AFSC.

Quotations

“We all suffered inconveniences in those days, didn’t we?” (Rosemary Bailey, The Story Continues; photo db.yadvashem.org)

Scilla Elworthy

Overview

Scilla Elworthy born Galashiels, Scotland June 3, 1943. Founded Oxford Research Group for peace dialog 1982; started Peace Direct 2003 supporting local peacemaking; first S. African multiracial theater; began campaign against genital mutilation 1978; Niwano Peace Prize 2003; international relations scholar.

Quotations

"[I]nclude women in preventing and resolving violence. Why? Because all over the world women have shown that they're good at it." (Resurgence, Nov. 2005; photo Wikipedia)

Gloria Emerson

Overview

Gloria Emerson born New York, NY May 19, 1926 (d. 2004). New York Times war correspondent, reporting from Vietnam, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, and Gaza.

Quotations

“Americans cannot perceive—even the most decent among us—the suffering caused by the United States air war in Indochina and how huge are the graveyards we have created there. . . As Anthony Lewis once wrote, our military technology is so advanced that we kill at a distance and insulate our consciences by the remoteness of the killing.” (NY Review, Aug. 10, 1972; photo PBS)

Eleanor Jean Emery

Overview

Eleanor Jean Emery born Glasgow, Scotland December 23, 1918 (d. 2007). First woman to head a British diplomatic mission, to Botswana, 1973. (photo Glasgow U.)

Smaranda Enache

Overview

Smaranda Enache born Târgu Mureş, Romania March 31, 1950. Romanian peace activist and human rights advocate; journalist; diplomat. Peacemaker in Balkans; president of Liga Pro Europa.

Quotations

“The world itself is facing some critical choices, violence and divisions will increase. . . Pan-Europe [had] a founding ideal of a continent reconciled with history, rich diversity of cultures and communities united by fundamental values of human dignity.” (Foreword, Liga Annual Report, 2001; photo revista22.ro)

Eve Ensler

Overview

Eve Ensler born Scarsdale, NY May 25, 1953. Playwright author of anti-violence play "The Vagina Monologues" (2000); pacifist author and filmmaker opposed Afghanistan and Iraq wars; danced can-can at Nevada nuclear test site in 1987 protesting resumption of nuclear tests.

Quotations

"We all have the capacity for great goodness and love, and we all have the capacity for terrible deeds." (Janelle Brown interview, Nov. 26, 2001; photo Wikipedia)

Mary Eoloff

Overview

Mary Eoloff (née Bunting) born February 25, 1932 (d. 2014) Quaker teacher and peace activist. Founded Minnesota Pax Christi, 1980; co-founded Peace Studies Task Force; active in Newman Overground Railroad. Protested School of the Americas; member of Middle East Peace Now; took 13 trips to Israel to adopt Mordechai Vanunu; supported people of Guatemala and Palestine. Opposed nuclear weapons.

Quotations

"Here we have this beautiful world. . . the idea of destroying it in an afternoon is insane." (Paynesville Press, Jan. 15, 2003; photo startribune.com)

Hedy Epstein

Overview

Hedy Epstein (née Wachenheimer) born Freiburg, Germany August 15, 1924 (d. 2016). Saved from Holocaust by Kindertransport, 1939. Undertook peace missions to Cambodia and Central America, 1989; nonviolent protests against Israeli wall and destruction 2005; March to Free Gaza March 2009; hunger strike, Cairo, 2009-10.

Quotations

"I care profoundly about issues of justice and fairness and peace. And I care about people—not just Jewish people. I care about everybody." (Columbia Daily-Tribune, June 21, 2009; photo events.stanford)

Marie Equi

Overview

Marie Diana Equi born New Bedford, MA April 7, 1872 (d. 1952). Pediatrician, "The stormy petrel of the Northwest," openly lesbian, anarchist arrested with Margaret Sanger for giving birth control info 1916; arrested again for antiwar protest, convicted of sedition after war for antiwar agitation 1918, served half of 3 year sentence in San Quentin prison.

Quotations

"PREPARE TO DIE, WORKINGMEN, J.P. MORGAN & CO. WANT PREPAREDNESS FOR PROFIT" (June 27, 1918, Portland; photo nlm.nih.gov)

Maria Fernanda Espinosa

Overview

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés born Salamanca, Spain September 7, 1964. Poet and diplomat. Ecuadorian Foreign Minster, 2007; UN Ambassador, 2008-11; Ecuadorian Defense Minister, 2012-present. Closed US base at Manta, 2007; as Permanent Representative to UN, opposed responsibility to protect, 2008; as Defense Minister, promised to close half of military bases and turn them into public places like parks, 2014.

Quotations

"Responsibility to protect does not respect the sovereignty of nations." (The WIP, November 21, 2008)

"Ecuador is a sovereign country. We don't need foreign troops on our soil." (February 15, 2007; photo www.que.es)

Audrey Eu

Overview

Audrey Eu Yuet-mee born Hong Kong September 11, 1953. Lawyer; head of Hong Kong Bar Association. Leader of Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP), a nonviolent direct action movement for free elections. Elected member of legislature, 2000-12; founding chair of Civic Party, 2006-12. Arrested “by appointment,” February 2015.

Quotations

“That's the whole point, What's the difference between giving up and fighting? That's exactly what we're doing, keep fighting." (Standard, Sept 29, 2014; photo Wikipedia)

Alona Elizabeth Evans

Overview

Alona Elizabeth Evans born Providence, RI February 27, 1917 (d. 1980). International lawyer; expert on terrorism and extradition. Professor at Wellesley College, 1945; first female president of American Society of International Law, 1972.

Elizabeth Glendower Evans

Overview

Elizabeth Glendower Evans born New Rochelle, NY February 28, 1856 (d. 1937). Socialist; penal reformer. Co-founder of WILPF. Publicized socialist causes, including the plight of Lawrence textile strikers, and the criminal trial of anarchists Sacco & Vanzetti. Sacco's last words, "Farewell, Mother," were addressed to her.

Jane Evans

Overview

Jane Evans born October 31, 1907 (d. 2004). Jewish feminist leader; pacifist; founded Jewish Peace Fellowship, 1941; supported conscientious objectors; active consultant for National Peace Conference at UN Charter, San Francisco.

Jill Evans

Overview

Jill Evans born Ystrad Rhondda, Glamorgan, Wales May 8, 1959. Welsh politician; peace activist; European Parliament 1999, vice-president Greens European Parliament 2014 ; chaired Cymru Committee for Nuclear Disarmament; marched from Cardiff leading to Greenham 1981; protested nuclear bomb factory Llanisien, Cardiff; former president Plaid Cymru foreign policy spokesperson; voted against Iraq War.

Quotations

"War against Iraq would be disastrous and would cause even more instability in the Middle East. Of course Saddam Hussein is a dangerous man who has persecuted the people of Iraq. We were saying that in the 80s when the British Government was selling him arms. We all want to see a democratic government in Iraq but more bloodshed won't achieve that.” (Sept. 21, 2002, Plaid Cymru convention)

On Israeli occupation and Gaza blockade: “How much longer can the Palestinian people wait for justice and equality? How many more generations will live through the terror? The situation is as bad as ever, if not worse. House demolitions, forced evictions and arrests under administrative detention are still common.” (Colwyn Bay, Nov. 16, 2016; photo Wikipedia)