January 21

Women peacemakers born today

  • 1831 Anna White born Brooklyn, NY (d. 1910). Shaker eldress and reformer; vice president Alliance of Women for Peace.

  • 1928 Helen Chavez born Brawley, CA. Nonviolent advocate for farm workers; inspired her husband, César; arrested four times for civil disobedience; jailed 3 days for shouting, "Huelga!"

  • 1928 Rita Steinhagen (d. 2006). Catholic nun; medical technician; volunteer Witness for Peace Nicaragua; twice arrested in protest against School of Americas, 1996; sentenced to 6 months prison, 1997. Founded the Minneapolis-based Bridge organization for runaway youth, 1971.

  • 1952 Emily Lau Wai-hing born Hong Kong. Journalist and politician; pro-democracy advocate. Chair of Democratic Party, 2012. Arrested for democracy protests, 1996, 2014.

  • 1965 Deniz Ũlke Ariboğan born Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish professor of international relations, focused in countering the effects of terrorism. Rector of Bahçesehir University, 2007-10. Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • Feast Day of Blessed Cristina of Assisi (d. 1258), companion of St. Claire.

  • 304 Martyrdom of St. Agnes of Rome (281-304), who repelled rapists by nonviolence.

  • 1931 Ganghaben Vaidya injured by British lathi charge in nonviolent protest Borsad, joined by 17-year-old Lilavati.

  • 1963 Suicide of Helen Allegranza, Secretary of Committee of 100 against nuclear weapons, on her release from year’s imprisonment Holloway Prison for Wethersfield AFB protest.

  • 1980 Women for Peace founded, Norway.

  • 1984 Women's resistance camp set up at Netherlands Volkel airbase to protest nearby stationing of nuclear weapons.

  • 2007 Seema Dhundia led UN's all-female peacekeeping force into Liberia.

  • 2012 British Ambassador Julie Chappell organized 12,000-person human chain at Volcan de Agua to protest Guatemalan domestic violence.

  • 2014 Under the sponsorship of UN Women, Women of Syria came together in Geneva to issue an online video appealing for peace.

January 22

Women peacemakers born today

  • 1905 Karola Bloch born Lodz, Poland (d. 1994). Socialist; architect. Co-founded International Society Culture of Peace, 1988.

  • 1920 Chiara Lubich born Trent, Italy (d. 2008). Founded Focolare Peace Movement, 1943.

  • 1930 Hildegard Goss-Mayr born Vienna, Austria. Nonviolent peacemaker; honorary president of International Fellowship of Reconciliation. Awarded Kreisky Human Rights prize, 1979; recipient Niwano Peace Prize, 1991; nominated for Nobel Prize, 1979, 1987, 1995.

  • 1955 Mona Polacca born Arizona. Hopi elder; Havasupai treasurer. Member of International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Served on UN committees relating to indigenous people's issues.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1857 In New Jersey, Lucy Stone's furniture (including her 3-month-old daughter's cradle) sold in protest against taxation without representation.

  • 1927 Elinor Byrns of Women's Peace Union urged US Senate hearings on nonviolence to outlaw war.

  • 1980 Nordic Women for Peace issued a declaration demanding disarmament, and urging arms spending to go towards providing food. "Women all over the world nourish the same thoughts and the same fears: Do my children have any future?"

  • 2011 In city of Sana'a, Yemeni human rights activist Tawakkol Karman seized and detained for 36 hours. "We refuse violence and know that violence has already caused our country countless problems."

January 23

Women peacemakers born today

  • 1885 Agatha Harrison born Sandhurst, England (d. 1954). Quaker; friend of Gandhi; WILPF founder; leader of Indian Conciliation Group for Indian independence; UN observer, 1950; mediator for Vietnam peace. Led Women's Peace Crusade for Parliament of Peacemakers, 1929.

  • 1921 Marija Gimbutas born Vilnius, Lithuania (d. 1994). Feminist; archaeologist; showed that Old Europe society was matriarchal and peaceful.

  • 1945 Janet Bruin born Philadelphia, PA (d. 1996). Swiss-American; second generation WILPF member; editor of WILPF publication Pax et Libertas.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1985 Yvonne Klein arrested in Albany, GA for picketing a civil defense exercise.

  • 1995 Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy promoting an end to nuclear weapons founded by Rebecca Johnson, co-chair of 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning ICAN.

  • 2007 Women Speak Out: Peace in 2007 workshop held at World Social Forum, Nairobi.

  • 2015 Kathy Kelly began three month federal prison sentence for nonviolent drone protest at Whiteman AFB.