January 27

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Women peacemakers born today

  • 1882 Helene Brion born Clermont-Ferrand, France (d. 1962). French feminist; socialist. Opposed World War I, for which she was fired from her teaching job and given a 3-year suspended prison sentence by military tribunal for "peace propaganda."

  • 1911 Blanche Margaret Meagher born Halifax, Canada (d. 1999). Diplomat; first female Canadian ambassador, 1957; throughout her career, posted to Greece, Israel, Austria and Sweden; opened relations with China. 1970; chaired International Atomic Energy board.

  • 1944 Mairead Maguire born Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shared Nobel Peace Prize with Betty Williams for efforts of organization Women for Peace towards Irish reconciliation, 1976. Injured in protest against Israel's separation wall, 2007.

  • 1951 Nana Berekashvili born Tblisi, Georgia. Psychologist; UNIFEM trainer on Women's Role in Conflict Resolution and Peace-building, 1999; International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN); Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).

  • 1952 Asma Jahangir born Lahore, Pakistan. Human rights leader; UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, 2004-10. Led campaigns against domestic violence and military rule; arrested and beaten, 1983; arrested, 2004. Awarded Magsaysay Prize, 1995; awarded UNESCO/Bilbao Prize, 2010.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1997 Lindis Percy given 9-month prison sentence for protest at Lakenheath RAF base.

  • 2009 Pianist Sarah Cahill debuted "A Sweeter Music," a series of works envisioning peace, inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel address.

  • 2016 Christiane Taubira resigned as French Justice Minister in protest of the policy of stripping convicted terrorists of their citizenship.