Bonnie Raitt born Burbank, CA November 8, 1949. Quaker antiwar singer; performer at No Nukes Rally, 1979; participant in Earth Day protest, 1999; climbed redwood with Joan Baez.
"Everybody`s crying peace on earth
Just as soon as we win this war. . . "
(Everybody's Cryin' Mercy; photo Rolling Stone)
Lalita Ramdas (née Katari) born Calcutta February 4, 1940. Indian nonviolence advocate and peace activist. Chair of Greenpeace International, 2007-10. Promoted peace with Pakistan; opposed Pokhran nuclear weapons testing, 1998. Launched Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior II, Gdansk, 2011.
"Building peace and talking peace takes much more courage than screaming aloud for war and revenge." (Aman ki Asha, Facebook, Jan. 20, 2013; photo greenpeace.org)
Lieselotte "Lilo" Fürst-Ramdohr born Aschersleben, Saxony October 11, 1913. Member of White Rose nonviolent resistance to Hitler; twice arrested. (photo 1943 wikicommons pd)
Franca Rame born Parabiago, Lombardy, Italy July 18, 1928 (d. 2013). Radical Italian actress and playwright; Senator; opposed Vietnam War, Iraq War; co-wrote and acted play on Cindy Sheehan's opposition to war.
"Christ asks us to love our enemies and not discriminate on the basis of race or religion. . . He always insisted that any war was unjust and criminal." (Mother Courage: Cindy Sheehan's Diary, p. 5, 2005; photo abruzzo24ore.tv)
Cornelia Ramondt-Hirschmann born The Hague July 29, 1871 (d.). WILPF founding member; on team of women's appeal to heads of states for peace 1915: tsar of Russia, kings of Sweden and Denmark; hosted WILPF Emergency conference for "new peace" 1922; WILPF international co-chair 1936-7; headed Netherlands Theosophical Society 1927-30.
On sending flowers to wounded British soldiers: "[U]nderstanding how it might for a time at least lead the thoughts of all these wounded and suffering men in a direction different from the horrors and misery they had been going through and remind them of those women who are giving the best of their powers towards the bringing back of the feelings of brotherhood and internationalism that have for the time being, so sadly been supplanted by hatred and antagonism." (1915 Bericht Rapport of women at the Hague; 1924 photo Swarthmore Peace Col.)
Leticia Ramos-Shahani born Lingayan, Philippines September 30, 1929. Diplomat, Secretary-General of UN Womens Conference Nairobi 1985; UN Assistant Secretary-General for Social & Humanitarian Affairs 1981-6; career diplomat Ambassador to Australia 1981-6; headed white paper on South China Sea 2012 recommending regional peace and stability; educator: Dean and professor of comparative literature.
"[W]hat matters in daily living is the acceptance of others on a basis of mutual trust and equitable sharing, not hatred or rejection." (First Filipina, Sept. 2006; philstar.com)
Edna Ramseyer Kaufman born Wayne County, OH January 18, 1910 (d.2001). Pacifist college professor and dean who opposed “the Good War” (WWII); got women into Civilian Public Service; aided Spanish refugee children Marseille 1940.
“To give expression to and develop convictions on peace and war.” (”C. O. Girls”, Aug. 12, 1943, in Rachel Waltner Goossen, Women Against the Good War, 1997, p. 102)
Mercedes Moritz Randall born Guatemala City September 11, 1895 (d. 1977). Peace historian and leader of WILPF; wrote first American account of Holocaust 1942; organized nomination of Emily Balch for Nobel Prize 1946; wrote her biography.
"[A] band of women. . . attempted to do what had never been done before by women acting together as women: to enter into international political activity, bringing forth a new spirit, a new approach, generating a new reconstructive force in the world. . . to think internationally." (Improper Bostonian, p. 7, 1964; photo Rootsweb)
Ruth Randall-Edstrőm born Wilmington, IL June 24, 1867 (d. 1944). Swedish delegate to founding of WILPF The Hague 1915; organizer of third WILPF congress Vienna 1921; active in International Alliance of Women 1908ff; suffragist; granddaughter Birgitta Hambraeus headed Swedish WILPF.
“We are gathered today to dedicate this home to love, social joy, for the common good and the building with the support of the Religion seeking promoting truth, justice and love in the world.” (dedication of her home, Dec. 2, 1908; photo wikipedia)
Rania Al-Abdallah of Jordan born Kuwait August 31, 1970. Advocate of UNICEF, UN Women's Fund, UN Girls Education Initiative.
"No matter where we come from. . . what we look like. . . how we dress. . . or to whom we pray. . . When it comes to what makes us laugh or cry. . . when it comes to what we dream of for ourselves and for our children. . . when it comes to how hard we work each day. . . We are usually more alike than we are different." (Harvard University, May 3, 2007; 2009 photo Wikipedia)
Keith Ransom-Kehler (née Nannie Keith Bean) born Dayton, KY February 14, 1876 (d. 1933). Prominent Baha'i envoy; lectured throughout the world for peace and equality on behalf of her faith. Friend of Jane Addams; charter member of WILPF. (photo http://bit.ly/J4Zdof)
Marjatta Rasi born Punkailadun, Finland November 29, 1945. Finnish ambassador to UN, 1998; Vice President of ECOSOC, 2002-3; planned postwar aid; Chair of UN Peacebuilding Fund, 2006.
"Humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction can and will overlap. These actions must often be accompanied by continuous crisis mitigation and prevention to avoid setbacks. Peacekeeping and security must be part of a coherent approach." (Report to Security Council, May 28, 2004; photo Enviro Finland 2011)
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany born Tananarive, Madagascar November 13, 1950. Judge of International Criminal Court for Yugoslavia, 2003-8.
"Chamber has found him guilty, to impose a single sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment on the Accused Hadžihasanović." (ICC, May 12, 2006, 617; photo ICTY)
Irina Ratushinskaya born Odessa, USSR March 4, 1954. Dissident Russian poet; spent four years in labor camp.
“If you start to hate you can never stop. . . to survive. . . you have to kill hatred immediately.” (Michael Henderson, All Her Paths Are Peace, p.167; photo Wikipedia)
Marianne Rauze (née Gaillarde) born Paris, France September 20, 1875 (d. 1964). French anti-militarist editor; feminist; Socialist, absolute pacifist, wife of army officer who died of war wounds.
"Enough killing!" (Dec. 1916)
Dahlia Ravikovitch born Ramat Gan, Israel November 27, 1936 (d. 2005). Israeli poet; peace activist.
On the sewage puddles of Sabra and Shattila
there you transferred masses of human beings
worthy of respect
from the world of the living to the world of the dead.
(A Baby Can't Be Killed Twice; photo Israel Fomin.)
Renuka Ray born Calcutta, India January 4, 1904 (d. 1997). Lifelong nonviolent follower of Gandhi; UN delegate, 1949; member of Indian parliament, 1957-67.
"May Gandhian socialism be a practical contribution of this country to the world of man." (speech on Indian Constitution, Nov. 19, 1949; photo http://bit.ly/s45xA)
Elizabeth Fisher Read born New Brighton, PA September 8, 1872 (d. 1943). American international lawyer and suffragist; personal attorney and mentor of Eleanor Roosevelt; life partner of internationalist peace advocate Esther Lape; translated book on World Court; author of International Law and International Relations 1926.
Bernice Johnson Reagon born Dougherty City, GA October 4, 1942. Historian; singer and composer; arrested with SNCC, 1961.
"A people free to choose will always choose peace." (photo Wikipedia)
Madeleine Rebérioux (née Amoudruz) born Chambéry, Savoy, France September 8, 1920 (d. 2005). French historian; Socialist. First woman President of Human Rights League, 1991. Signed Manifesto of 121, opposing Algerian war and torture, 1960. Opposed Vietnam War. Led UN Decade of Peace & Nonviolence, 2000. Called "Enough is Enough!" in Dec. 13, 2001 appeal for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
“I am an anti-colonialist. That is probably the only idea that has always engaged me.” (Paroles Historiques, Crabtree thesis p. 46; photo bibliomonde.com)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
