International Congress of Women in 1915. left to right:1. Lucy Thoumaian - Armenia, 2. Leopoldine Kulka , 3. Laura Hughes - Canada, 4. Rosika Schwimmer - Hungary, 5. Anita Augspurg - Germany, 6. Jane Addams - USA, 7. Eugénie Hamer - Belgium, 8. Aletta Jacobs - Netherlands, 9. Chrystal Macmillan - UK, 10. Rosa Genoni - Italy, 11. Anna Kleman - Sweden, 12. Thora Daugaard - Denmark, 13. Louise Keilhau - Norway
This is a list of women pacifists and peace activists by nationality – notable women who are well known for their work in promoting pacifism .
Women have been active in peace movements since at least the 19th century. After the First World War broke out in 1914, many women's organizations became involved in peace activities. In 1915, the International Congress of Women in the Hague brought together representatives from women's associations in several countries, leading to the establishment of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom .[ 1] This in turn led to national chapters which continued their work in the 1920s and 1930s. After the Second World War , European women once again became involved in peace initiatives, mainly as a result of the Cold War , while from the 1960s the Vietnam War led to renewed interest in the United States.[ 2]
Eva Bacon (1909–1994) – Australian socialist, feminist, pacifist
Doris Blackburn (1889–1970) – Australian social reformer, politician, pacifist
Helen Caldicott (born 1938) – Australian physician, anti-nuclear activist, revived Physicians for Social Responsibility , campaigner against the dangers of radiation
Margaret Holmes , AM (1909–2009) – Australian activist during the Vietnam War , member Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
Amelia Lambrick (1864–1956) was an Australian public servant and pacifist
Isabel Longworth (1881–1961) – Australian dentist and peace activist
Nancy Shelley OAM (1926–2010) – Quaker who represented the Australian peace movement at the UN in 1982
Barbara Grace Tucker – Australian peace activist, long time participant of London's Parliament Square Peace Campaign
Jo Vallentine (born 1946) – Australian politician and peace activist
Kathleen Deery de Phelps (1908–2001) – conservationist, philanthropist
Edith Ballantyne (born 1922) – Czech-Canadian peace activist
Christine Ross Barker (1866–1940) – Canadian pacifist and suffragist
Alice Amelia Chown (1866–1949) – Canadian feminist, pacifist and writer
Muriel Duckworth (1908–2009) – Canadian pacifist, feminist and community activist, founder of Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace
Mildred Fahrni (1900–1992) – Canadian pacifist, feminist, internationally active in the peace movement
Ursula Franklin (1921–2016) – German-Canadian scientist, pacifist and feminist, whose research helped end atmospheric nuclear testing
Rae Luckock (1893–1972) – Canadian feminist, peace activist and politician
Simonne Monet-Chartrand (1919–1993) – Canadian women's rights activist, feminist, pacifist
Alaa Murabit (born 1989) – Libyan-Canadian physician and human rights advocate for inclusive peace and security
Harriet Dunlop Prenter (fl. 1921) – Canadian feminist, pacifist
Setsuko Thurlow (born 1932) – Japanese-Canadian non-nuclear weapon activist, figure of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Julia Grace Wales (1881–1957) – Canadian academic and pacifist
Olga Bianchi (1924–2015) – feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist
Matilde Bajer (1840–1934) – Danish feminist and peace activists
Henriette Beenfeldt (1878–1949) – radical Danish peace activist
Benny Cederfeld de Simonsen (1865–1952) – Danish peace activist
Henriette Crone (1874–1933) – trade unionist, peace activist and politician
Thora Daugaard (1874–1951) – Danish feminist, pacifist, journal editor and translator
Henni Forchhammer (1863–1955) – Danish educator, feminist and pacifist
Eline Hansen (1859–1919) – Danish feminist and peace activist
Estrid Hein (1873–1956) – Danish ophthalmologist, women's rights activist and pacifist
Ellen Hørup (1871–1953) – Danish writer, pacifist and women's rights activist
Johanne Meyer (1838–1915) – pioneering Danish suffragist, pacifist and journal editor
Eva Moltesen (1871–1934) – Finnish-Danish writer and peace activist
Camilla Nielsen (1856–1932) – Danish philanthropist, feminist and peace activist
Louise Nørlund (1854–1919) – Danish feminist and peace activist
Voldborg Ølsgaard (1877–1939) – Danish peace and women's rights activist
Clara Tybjerg (1864–1941) – Danish feminist, peace activist and educator
Louise Wright (1861–1935) – Danish philanthropist, feminist and peace activist
Else Zeuthen (1897–1975) – Danish peace activist, feminist and politician
Marcelle Capy (1891–1962) – French novelist, journalist, pacifist
Bernadette Cattanéo (1899-1963) – French trade unionist, communist activist, newspaper editor, magazine co-founder
Fanny Clar (1875-1944) – French journalist and writer
Gabrielle Duchêne (1870–1954) – French feminist and pacifist
Solange Fernex (1934–2006) – French peace activist and politician
Suzanne Grinberg (1899–1972) – French lawyer, pacifist, suffragist and writer
France Hamelin (1918–2007) – French artist, peace activist and resistance worker
Germaine Malaterre-Sellier (1889–1967) – French nurse, suffragist and pacifist
Jeanne Mélin (1877–1964) – French pacifist, feminist, writer and politician
Maria Pognon (1844–1925) – French writer, feminist, suffragist and pacifist
Marie-Louise Puech-Milhau (1876–1966) – French pacifist, feminist and journal editor
Colette Reynaud (1872–1965) – French feminist, socialist and pacifist journalist
Madeleine Vernet (1878–1949) – French educator, writer and pacifist
Anita Augspurg (1857–1943) – German lawyer, writer, feminist, pacifist
Gertrud Baer (1890–1981) – German Jewish peace activist, and a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Hedwig Dohm (1831–1919) – German feminist, writer, pacifist
Lida Gustava Heymann (1868–1943) – German feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist
Petra Kelly (1947–1992) – German politician, feminist, pacifist
Annette Kolb (1870–1967) – German writer and pacifist
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) – German marxist and anti–war activist.[ 8]
Renate Riemeck (1920–2003) – German historian and Christian peace activist
Sophie Scholl (1921–1943) – German Christian pacifist, active in the White Rose non-violent resistance movement in Nazi Germany
Margarethe Lenore Selenka (1860–1922) – German zoologist, feminist and pacifist
Clara Zetkin (1857–1933) – German Maxist, feminist and pacifist
Kirthi Jayakumar (born 1987) – Indian peace activist and gender equality activist, youth peace activist, peace educator and founder of The Red Elephant Foundation
Gurmehar Kaur (born 1996) – Indian student and peace activist
Mother Teresa (1910–1997) – Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun, missionary, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Medha Patkar (born 1954) – Indian activist for Tribals and Dalits affected by dam projects
Manasi Pradhan (born 1962) – Indian activist; founder of Honour for Women National Campaign
Arundhati Roy (born 1961) – Indian writer, social critic and peace activist
Shirin Ebadi (born 1947) – Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, Nobel peace laureate
Nadia Murad (born 1993) – Iraqi human rights activist, Nobel Prize laureate
Elisa Agnini Lollini (1858–1922) – pioneering Italian feminist, pacifist, suffragist and politician.[ 10]
Cora di Brazza (1862-1944) – designer of the peace flag, pacifist.[ 11]
Alma Dolens (1869–1948) –pacifist, suffragist, journalist
Alaide Gualberta Beccari (1842–1906) – Italian feminist, pacifist and social reformer
Rosa Genoni (1867–1954) – Italian fashion designer, feminist, pacifist.[ 12]
Linda Malnati (1855–1921) – influential women's rights activist, trade unionist, suffragist, pacifist and writer
Virginia Tango Piatti (1869–1958) – writer and pacifist, WILPF delegate
Graziella Sonnino (born 1884) – feminist and peace activist
Ida Vassalini (1891–1953) – chair of the Milanese WILPF chapter from 1922 to 1927[ 13]
Atsuko Betchaku (1960–2017) – pacifist and educator
Marii Hasegawa (1918–2012) – Japanese peace activist
Raichō Hiratsuka (1886–1971) – Japanese writer, political activist, feminist, pacifist
Tano Jōdai (1886–1982) – Japanese English literature professor, peace activist and university president
Fumiko Nakamura (1913–2013) – Japanese teacher and anti-war activist.
Shina Inoue Kan (1899–1982) – Japanese academic, women's rights activist and pacifist
Yosano Akiko (1878–1942) – Japanese writer, feminist, pacifist
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) – Burmese politician, author, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Malala Yousafzai (born 1997) – Pakistani education activist, Nobel Prize laureate
Carmen Magallón (born 1951) – Spanish physicist, pacifist, conducting research in support of women's advancement in science and peace
Concepción Picciotto (1936–2016) – Spanish-born anti-nuclear and anti-war protester, White House Peace Vigil
Andrea Andreen (1888–1972) – Swedish physician, pacifist and feminist
Sonja Branting-Westerståhl (1890–1981) – Swedish lawyer and politician.[ 16]
Emilia Broomé (1866–1925) – Swedish politician, feminist and peace activist
Siri Derkert (1888–1973) – Swedish artist, pacifist and feminist
Greta Engkvist (1893–1990) – Swedish peace activist and educator
Beatrice Fihn (born 1982) – Swedish anti-nuclear activist, chairperson of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Ann-Margret Holmgren (1850–1940) – Swedish writer, feminist and pacifist
Anna Kleman (1862–1940) – Swedish suffragist and peace activist
Elisabeth Krey-Lange (1878–1965) – journalist, women's rights activist and pacifist
Agda Montelius (1850–1920) – Swedish philanthropist, feminist, peace activist
Alva Myrdal (1902–1986) – Swedish sociologist, politician, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Anna T. Nilsson (1869–1947), educator, peace activist
Vera Nilsson (1888–1979), painter and peace activist
Betty Olsson (1871–1950), suffragist and peace activist
Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm (1919–2000), German-born Nazi emigrant and pacifist
Ellen Palmstierna (1869–1941), Swedish women's rights and peace activist
Annika Söder (born 1955), Swedish politician, diplomat and pacifist
Gunhild Tegen (1889–1970), writer, translator, pacifist
Matilda Widegren (1863–1938), educator and committed peace activist
Ruth Adler (1944–1994) – feminist, and human rights campaigner in Scotland
Pat Arrowsmith (1930–2023) – British author and peace campaigner
Margaret Ashton (1856–1937) – British suffragist, local politician, pacifist
Meg Beresford (born 1937) – British activist, European Nuclear Disarmament movement
Janet Bloomfield (1953–2007) – British peace and disarmament campaigner, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Brigid Brophy (1929–1995) – British novelist, feminist, pacifist
Vera Brittain (1893–1970) – British writer, pacifist
April Carter (1937–2022) – British peace activist, researcher, editor
Ada Nield Chew (1870–1945) – British suffragist and pacifist
Helena Cobban (born 1952) – British peace activist, journalist, author
Kathleen Courtney (1878–1974) – British suffragist and pacifist
Helen Crawfurd (1877–1954) – Scottish suffragette, Communist activist and pacifist
Agnes Dollan (1887–1966) – Scottish suffragette, political activist and pacifist
Peggy Duff (1910–1981) – British peace activist, socialist, founder and first General Secretary of CND
Diana Francis (born 1944) – British peace activist and scholar, former president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation
Margaret Hills (1882–1967) – British educator, suffragist, feminist and pacifist
Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926) – British welfare campaigner
Kate Hudson (born 1958) – British left-wing political activist and academic; General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and National Secretary of Left Unity ; officer of the Stop the War Coalition since 2002
Kathleen Innes (1883–1967) – British educator, writer, pacifist
Helen John – British activist, one of the first full-time members of the Greenham Common peace camp
Muriel Lester (1885–1968) – British social reformer, pacifist and nonconformist ; Ambassador and Secretary for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation ; co-founder of the Kingsley Hall
Chrystal Macmillan (1872–1937) – Scottish politician, feminist, pacifist
Mairead Maguire (born 1944) – Northern Ireland peace movement, Nobel peace laureate
Sybil Morrison (1893–1984) – British pacifist active in the Peace Pledge Union
Marian Cripps, Baroness Parmoor (1878–1952) – British anti-war activist
Priscilla Hannah Peckover (1833–1931) – English pacifist, nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize
Lindis Percy (born 1941) – British nurse, midwife, pacifist, founder of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB)
Madeleine Rees (fl. from 1990s) – British lawyer, human right and peace proponent
Ellen Robinson (1840–1912) – British peace campaigner
Ada Salter (1866–1942) – English Quaker, pacifist, a founding member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Molly Scott Cato (born 1963) – British green economist, Green Party politician, pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigner
Mary Sheepshanks (1872–1960) – British pacifist, feminist, journalist and social worker
Myrtle Solomon (1921–1987) – British General Secretary of the Peace Pledge Union and Chair of War Resisters International
Frances Benedict Stewart (fl. 1920s–1950s) – Chilean-born American sociologist, pacifist, feminist and Bahá'í pioneer
Ada Salter (1866–1942) – English Quaker, pacifist, a founding member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Ethel Snowden (1881–1951) – British socialist, human rights activist, feminist politician and pacifist
Sophia Sturge (1849–1936) – British Quaker, social reformer, and pacifist
Helena Swanwick (1864–1939) – British feminist and pacifist
Kathleen Tacchi-Morris (1899–1993) – British dancer, founder of Women for World Disarmament
Helen Thomas (1966–1989) – Welsh peace activist, died at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976) – British actress and pacifist; member of the Peace Pledge Union who gave readings for its benefit
Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) – English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist
Betty Williams (1943–2020) – Northern Irish pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976
Lilian Wolfe (1875–1974) – British anarchist, pacifist, feminist
Angie Zelter (born 1951) – British anti-war and anti-nuclear activist, co-founder of Trident Ploughshares
Bella Abzug (1920–1998) – American lawyer, politician, social activist and pacifist
Jane Addams (1860–1935) – American, national chairman of Woman's Peace Party , president of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom , and 1931 Nobel peace laureate.[ 12]
Fannie Fern Andrews (1867–1950) – American educator, writer, social worker and pacifist
Joan Baez (born 1941) – prominent American anti-war protester, inspirational singer
Ella Baker (1903–1986) – African-American civil rights activist, feminist, pacifist
Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961) – American pacifist, leader of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom , and 1946 Nobel peace laureate
Medea Benjamin (born 1952) – American author, organizer, co-founder of the anti-militarist Code Pink
Norma Elizabeth Boyd (1888–1985) – African American politically active educator, children's rights proponent, pacifist
Heloise Brainerd (1881–1869) – American women activist, pacifist
Sophonisba Breckinridge (1866–1948) – American educator, social reformer, pacifist
Olympia Brown (1835–1926) – American theologist, suffragist, pacifist
Gertrude C. Bussey (1888–1961) – American philosopher, peace activist
Joan Chittister (born 1936) – American Benedictine nun, prioress, writer, pacifist, co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women
Judy Collins (born 1939) – inspirational American anti-war singer-songwriter, protester
Rachel Corrie (1979–2003) – American activist for Palestinian human rights
Frances Crowe (born 1919) – American pacifist, anti-nuclear power activist, draft counselor supporting conscientious objectors
Dorothy Day (1897–1980) – American journalist, social activist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement
Dorothy Detzer (1893–1981) – American feminist, peace activist, U.S. secretary of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Amanda Deyo (1838–1917) – American Universalist minister, peace activist, correspondent
Mary Dingman (1875–1961) – American social and peace activist
Roberta Dunbar (died 1956) – American clubwoman and peace activist
Crystal Eastman (1881–1928) – American lawyer, suffragist, pacifist, journalist
Cynthia Enloe (born 1938) – American writer and feminist peace theorist
Hedy Epstein (1924–2016) – Jewish-American antiwar activist, escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport ; active in opposition to Israeli military policies
Jodie Evans (born 1954) – American political activist, co-founder of Code Pink , filmmaker
Genevieve Fiore (1912–2002) – American women's rights and peace activist
Jane Fonda (born 1937) – American anti-war protester, actress
Elisabeth Freeman (1876–1942) – American suffragist, civil rights activist and pacifist
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) – Russian/American activist imprisoned in the U.S. for opposition to World War I
Amy Goodman (born 1957) – American journalist, host of Democracy Now!
Alice Hamilton (1869–1970) – American physician, toxicologist, humanitarian and peace activist
Judith Hand (born 1940) – American biologist, pioneer of peace ethology
Florence Jaffray Harriman (1870–1967) – American suffragist, social reformer, pacifist and diplomat
Erna P. Harris (1908-1995) – African-American journalist, civil rights and peace activist
Alice Herz (1882–1965) – German-born American peace activist
Margaret Isely (1921–1997) – American peace activist and co-founder of WCPA
Jessie Jack Hooper
Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) – American writer, social activist, peace advocate
Hannah Clothier Hull (1872–1958) – American Quaker activist, in the leadership of WILPF in the US
Inez Jackson (1907–1993) – African American pacifist and civil rights activist
Lisa Kalvelage (1923–2009) – German-born American anti-war activist remembered as one of the Napalm ladies
Helen Keller (1880–1968) – American activist, deafblind writer, speech "Strike Against The War" Carnegie Hall, New York 1916
Kathy Kelly (born 1952) – American peace and anti-war activist, arrested over 60 times during protests; member and organizer of international peace teams
Coretta Scott King (1927–2006) – American writer, civil rights leader and pacifist
Lola Maverick Lloyd (1875–1944) – American pacifist, suffragist, feminist
Elizabeth McAlister (born 1939) – American former nun, co-founder of Jonah House , peace activist
Bertha McNeill (1887–1979) – African-American WILPF leader and civil rights activist
Ava Helen Pauling (1903–1981) – American human rights activist, feminist, pacifist
Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973) – first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, lifelong pacifist
Coleen Rowley (born 1954) – ex-FBI agent, whistleblower, peace activist, and the first recipient of the Sam Adams Award
Cindy Sheehan (born 1957) – American anti-Iraq and anti-Afghanistan war leader
Jeanmarie Simpson (born 1959) – American feminist, peace activist
Samantha Smith (1972–1985) – American schoolgirl, young advocate of peace between Soviets and Americans
Eve Tetaz (born 1931) – retired American teacher, peace and justice activist
Lillian Wald (1867–1940) – American nurse, writer, human rights activist, suffragist and pacifist
Mary Wilhelmine Williams (1878–1944) – American historian, feminist and pacifist
Anita Parkhurst Willcox (1892–1984) – American artist, feminist, pacifist
Fanny Garrison Villard (1844–1928) – American suffragist and pacifist,
Alice Walker (born 1944) – American novelist, feminist and pacifist
Jody Williams (born 1950) – American anti-landmine advocate and organizer, Nobel peace laureate
Dagmar Wilson (1916–2011) – American illustrator, pacifist, founder of Women Strike for Peace
Mary Emma Woolley (1863-1947) – American educator, peace activist, sole US female delegate to the Conference on Reduction and Limitation of Armaments
Sheyene Gerardi – human rights advocate, peace activist, founder of the SPACE Movement
Tawakkol Karman (born 1979) – Yemini journalist, politician and human rights activist; shared 2011 Nobel Peace prize
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