Freda Wuesthoff

Overview

Freda Wuesthoff (née Hoffmann) born Berlin, Germany May 16, 1896 (d. 1956). German pacifist, physicist, and patent attorney. Founded women’s Stuttgart Peace Circle against nuclear weapons, 1947. Promoted peace education in German schools.

Quotations

“I think it is possible that the women of other countries could understand more quickly than men that there are really only two choices: further wars, that is, the agonizing death of the human race—or the start of humanity for lasting peace.” (letter to friends, Dec. 12, 1946 fembio; photo.geni.com)

Ruth Weiss

Overview

Ruth Weiss (née Löwenthal) born Fürth, Bavaria June 26, 1924. German pacifist; author and journalist; authority on African cultures; opposed Apartheid. Exiled from Germany, 1936; later exiled from Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, 1968. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

"Life is a never-ending learning process. I learned everyone is unique, yet everyone has equal rights. I learned it is essential to defend such rights, to respect the rich diversity of cultures." (http://bit.ly/1uE6NyM; photo word.world-citizenship.org)

Melissa F. Wells

Overview

Melissa F. Wells (née Foelsch) born Tallin, Estonia November 18, 1932. UN Undersecretary for Administration, 1992-3; 40-year career US diplomat; ambassador to ECOSOC, 1977; Cape Verde, 1977; Mozambique, 1987; Zaire, 1991; Estonia, 1998; Special Representative to Sudan, 1994.

Quotations

"The destruction is maniacal." (Time, Feb. 1, 1988 on Mozambique civil war; photo c. 1998 State Dept. pd)

Christa Wolf

Overview

Christa Wolf (née Ihlenfeld) born Landsberg an der Warthe, Poland March 18, 1929 (d. 2011). Leading German writer; philosopher; feminist. Awarded Geschwister-Scholl Prize, 1987; co-founded International Culture of Peace, 1988. Opposed Cold War and nuclear weapons.

Quotations

“You can tell when a war starts, but when does the prewar start?” (Cassandra; photo Vassar faculty)

Jindřiška Wurmová

Overview

Jindřiška Wurmová (née Fleischer) born Rovečné, Moravia, Austro-Hungary February 8, 1864 (d. 1953). Czech pacifist feminist; author and translator; co-founder and chair Brno Chečicky Peace Society 1912-30; early follower of Nobelist Bertha von Suttner 1904; postwar membership in International Peace Council Geneva , World Women 's Union, League of Nations for Women ,WILPF; wrote a dozen works on peace, including a Peace Reader (1913); signed War Resisters League Manifesto against Conscription 1926. (photo myheritage.cz)

Edith Wynner

Overview

Edith Wynner born Budapest December 22, 1915 (d. 2003). Pacifist leader, Campaign for World Government; aide to Rosika Schwimmer; author of study of international organization.

Quotations

"[Militarists] stripped by merciless satire and ridicule of their tinsel, their flag-waving, and their lip-service to the tenets of human liberty and progress, men and women everywhere will see them and their cohorts for what they are—dealers in death and destruction." (letter to Time, April 6, 1936; photo NYPL)