New Delhi: Swami Vivekananda once said that for India to develop, the country must stop ignoring its women. He said that there is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. Throughout history, there have been numerous trailblazing women who had a profound impact on human civilisation. In this article, we will take a look at some of those game-changing women whose names and deeds are not much known in the mainstream discourse.
7 most influential women who changed the world
1. Sojourner Truth
Born in 1797, Sojourner Truth was an American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women’s rights, and alcohol temperance. Born into slavery in New York, she escaped to freedom with her infant daughter in 1826. In 1828, she went to court to recover her and became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. She fought for women and African Americans till her last day.
2. Huda Shaarawi
Born in 1879, Huda Shaarawi was a pioneering Egyptian feminist leader, suffragette, and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union. She fought against the patriarchal society in Egypt and in 1908, she founded the first women-run philanthropic organization. In 1910, she opened a school for girls and also fought against British colonialism. In 1919, she organized the largest women’s protest against British rule. In a famous incident, she removed her veil, at the time a requirement for women, in front of a crowd in Cairo.
3. Lilian Bland
Born in 1878, Lilian Bland was an Anglo-Irish journalist and pioneer aviator. In 1910-11, she became one of the first women in Great Britain and Ireland, and probably in the world, to design, build, and fly an aircraft which was known as the Bland Mayfly. It was an act that brought down the barriers for women in the aviation sector which was dominated by men back then.
4. Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American actress and inventor. She worked in films in Czechoslovakia and later became a Hollywood star with her performance in films like Algiers, Western Boom Town, the White Cargo, and the epic Samson and Delilah. In 1960, she was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During World War II, Lamarr co-invented a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology along with George Antheil. Its main objective was to defeat the radio jamming threat of the Axis powers. However, the technology was used after World War II.
5. Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who became the first black woman to be elected to the US Congress in 1968. In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for the US President role and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. She was famous for her fight against social, economic, and political injustices, and for striving for civil rights for Black people and the rights of women.
6. Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician whose research topics included hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory, Teichmüller theory and symplectic geometry. She was honoured with the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics on August 13, 2014. She was the first woman to win the prize and also the first Iranian.
7. Wangari Maathai
Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist. She started the Green Belt Movement, a non-governmental organization which focuses on improving the environment through several initiatives like the planting of trees and environmental conservation. The organisation also fights for the rights of women. In 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to be honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize. Thanks to the organisation, more than 50 million trees have been planted to date.
Throughout history, there have been numerous trailblazing women who had a profound impact on human civilisation. In this article, we will take a look at some of those game-changing women whose names and deeds are not much known in the mainstream discourse. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
