Cuban revolutionary and politician, Celia Sánchez Manduley (1920 – 1980) was one of Fidel Castros closest collaborators, before the start of the revolution and until his death. She was the first female fighter in the rebel army, before becoming secretary of the presidency of the council of minister
Midwife and committed politician, Aoua Keïta (1912 – 1980) was a leading figure in feminism and the struggle for independence in Mali. The first Malian woman elected to parliament, she played an important political role and was particularly committed to womens rights. One of the first midwives Da
Sri Lankan politician, Sirimavo Bandaranaike ( 1916 – 2000) was in 1960 the first woman to become head of government of a country. She will serve as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka three times. First female head of government Daughter of Rosalind Mahawelatenne Kumarihamy and Barnes Ratwatte, Sirimavo
Mala Zimetbaum (1918 – 1944) was a Polish Jewish resistance fighter , who distinguished herself by her extraordinary courage. Deported to Auschwitz, she manages to escape before being recaptured. Until the last moment, she urges her fellow prisoners to revolt. The White Brigade The youngest of fi
American writer, Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (1930 – 1965) was the first black woman to have one of her plays performed on Broadway. She was involved in the fight against racial segregation in the United States. Militancy in the blood Born May 19, 1930 in the midst of racial segregation, Lorraine Ha
Gabriele Münter (1877 – 1962) is a German expressionist painter, eminent member with among others Wassily Kandinsky of the group of artists Le Cavalier bleu. The school of Vassily Kandinsky Born in Berlin on February 19, 1877 into a bourgeois family, Gabriele quickly took an interest in art and dr
English-born Kenyan aviation pioneer, Beryl Markham (1902 – 1986) was the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone from east to west, a journey much more dangerous than the reverse because of the strong winds. A woman of strong character, she is also known for her book about her memoirs, Towar
A brilliant and courageous photographer, Gerda Taro was the first female war photo-reporter and covered the Spanish Civil War. His work remains in the shadow of that of his companion, Robert Capa. A young revolutionary Gerda Taro is born Gerta Pohorylle, the 1st August 1910 in Stuttgart (Germany).
Bessie Stringfield (1911 – 1993), nicknamed The Motorcycle Queen of Miami was the first black woman to travel the United States alone and on a motorcycle, facing many racist and sexist prejudices along the way . A room on a map Bessie Stringfield was born in Kingston, Jamaica to a white Dutch mo
Often compared to Rosa Parks, Viola Desmond (1914 – 1965) spoke out against racial segregation by refusing to leave an area reserved for whites in a cinema. The Desmond School of Beauty Culture NOT born July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Viola Irene Davis was one of the fifteen children
Élise Léontine Deroche, known as Baroness Raymonde de Laroche (1882 – 1919) was the first woman to obtain a pilots license in 1910. Aviation pioneers Daughter of a leatherworker father, Élise Deroche was born on August 22, 1882 in Paris. As a child, she loved sports and physical activity and gre
Civil rights activist, Septima Poinsette Clark (1898 – 1987) developed workshops and working groups in favor of literacy and the right to vote for African Americans. Martin Luther King refers to her as the mother of the civil rights movement. A strict upbringing Septima Poinsette was born on May
Zhang Zhixin (张志新, 1930-1975) spoke out against the Cultural Revolution and in particular against the idolization of Mao Zedong. The tragic repression she suffered made her a heroine and a martyr. [Warning:rape, violence] The Peoples University of China Zhang Zhixin was born in 1930 in Tianjin,
The poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917 – 2000) received numerous awards for his committed work; she was, in particular, the first black woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poems Annie Allen . Segregation The eldest daughter of schoolteacher and pianist Keziah Brooks and janitor Davi
Marina Mikhailovna Raskova (Раско́ва Мари́на Миха́йловна, 1912 – 1943) is a Russian pilot who distinguished herself in particular during the Second World War. Enlisted in the Red Army, she founded three all-female aviation regiments, including the 588e NBAP, nicknamed witches of the night by the Ger
Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (1918 – 2020) was an American mathematician and astrophysicist. Working for NASA, she participated in American space programs, notably by calculating the trajectory of the Mercury program and the Apollo 11 mission. Exceptional intelligence Katherine Coleman was bor
Aline Sitoé Diatta (between 1910 and 1920 – 1944), sometimes nicknamed the Joan of Arc of Africa, is a heroine of the anti-colonialist resistance in Casamance in Senegal. The voice Daughter of Assonelo and Silisia Diatta, Aline Sitoé Diatta was born around 1920 in the coastal town of Kabrousse in
Julia de Burgos (1914 – 1953), Puerto Rican woman of letters and civil rights activist, is one of the great poetesses of Puerto Rico and South America. And my childhood was a poem in the river Daughter of Paula García de Burgos and Francisco Burgos Hans, Julia Constanza Burgos García was born on
Amalie Emmy Noether (1882 – 1935) was a genius German mathematician, whose discoveries revolutionized several fields of mathematics and physics. A brilliant child Amalie Emmy Noether was born on March 23, 1882 in Erlangen, Bavaria (Germany). She is the eldest of four children of Ida Amalia Kaufma
American sculptor, Anna Coleman Watts Ladd (1878 – 1939) worked in particular to create masks for soldiers disfigured during the First World War. An accomplished artist Anna Coleman Watts Ladd was born on July 15, 1878 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA. She spent her youth in Europe, studying sculpt
Marie Josefina Mathilde Durocher (1808 – 1893) was a Brazilian gynecologist, midwife and doctor. First qualified midwife, she is the first woman to be admitted to the Brazilian Academy of Medicine. A new life in Brazil Marie Josefina Mathilde Durocher was born in Paris on January 6, 1808. From 18
Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, known as Gabriela Mistral (April 7, 1889 in Vicuña – January 10, 1957 in New York), was a Chilean woman of letters and feminist, who won the Prize in 1945 Literature Nobel. First poems Lucila de María was born in Vicuña (in the Andes Mountains,
Bertrand de Got or de Goth, was Archbishop of Bordeaux before becoming Pope under the name of Clement V. He went down in history for having ordered the suppression (with Philippe le Bel) of the order of the Templars and for having, in 1309, moved the Holy See to Avignon. He was crowned in Lyon in th
Russian-Swiss painter Marianne von Werefkin (1860 – 1938) strives to innovate and express sincere emotions through her art. In an expressionist style, she paints landscapes, human figures and scenes of everyday life. A young painter Daughter of the commander of the regiment of Yekaterinburg (a Ru