Today’s Illustrated Woman in History was written by Naomi Wilcox-Lee of Sheroes of History and illustrated by @geeniejay. It is featured in the second issue of the Illustrated Women in History zine which you can order here. Zenobia – Warrior Queen Zenobia was a 3rd century warrior queen who claimed she was descended from none …
Today’s Illustrated Women in History is a written submission by Hollie Peck. HATSHEPSUT was the longest reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt during the 18th dynasty. Her reign lasted for nearly two decades from 1479 to 1458 BC. Daughter to King Tuthmoses I and Queen Ahmose, she had two younger brothers who both died in …
Wilma Mankiller was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. Her administration founded the Cherokee Nation Community Development Department to improve the lives of Native Americans. Mankiller was born in 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation. Her great-grandfather was one of over 16,000 Native Americans and enslaved Africans who were …
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current President of Liberia. She is the first elected female head of state in Africa as well as the world’s first elected black female president. In 2011 she was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full …
Liliuokalani was Hawaii’s first queen and final sovereign ruler before the islands were annexed by the United States in 1898. Liliuokalani was born Lydia Kamakaeha in 1838 in Honolulu, Hawaii to the High Chieftess Analea Keohokālole and High Chief Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea. Her mother served as an adviser to King Kamehameha III. Liliuokalani was educated …
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was a Nigerian teacher, feminist and political leader who was the leading advocate of women’s rights in her country during the first half of the 20th century. Ransome-Kuti was born Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas in 1900 in Abeokuta, Egbaland (now Nigeria). She became the first female student at the Abeokuta Grammar School, …
Queen Nzinga Mbande was a 17th-century African ruler of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in Angola. She fought fearlessly to resist the Portuguese who were attempting to colonise the area at the time. Nzinga was born in 1583 to Ngola (King) Kiluanji and Kangela. She was named Nzinga because her umbilical …
Indira Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India and central figure of the Indian National Congress party. She was assassinated in 1984. Gandhi (born Indira Nehru) was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was one of the chief figures in India’s campaign for independence from Britain along with her grandfather Motilal Nehru. …
Eva Perón served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She used her position to fight for women’s suffrage and improving the lives of the poor, becoming a legendary figure in Argentine politics. She is commonly known as ‘Evita’. Perón was born María Eva Duarte on May 7, 1919, …
Grainnuile / Grainne (Ní Mháille) Ó Máille was the Pirate Queen of Connacht and head of the Ó Máille Clan in Ireland in the 1500’s. As a child, Grainnuile was said to have cut off all her hair to diguise herself a boy so that she could sneak onto one of her father’s ships. Her …