Shahla Sherkat is a journalist, prominent Persian feminist author, and one of the pioneers of the Women’s rights movement in Iran. Sherkat was born in 1956 in Isfahan, Iran. When she was 11, her family moved to Tehran. After finishing school, Sherkat continued her education at Tehran University where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in …
Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect who became the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the first woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in her own right. Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She attended boarding schools in England and Switzerland before continuing her education at the American …
Christine Jorgensen was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having gender reassignment surgery. Jorgensen was born in 1927 in the Bronx, New York City. From an early age, she knew that she identified as female and hated having to wear traditionally male clothes, …
Fabiola Gianotti is an Italian particle physicist and the first woman to hold the position of Director-General of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). Gianotti was born in 1960 in Rome, Italy. From a young age, she showed remarkable powers of concentration and developed talents in cooking, music and art at home, and Greek, …
Concepción Arenal was a Spanish feminist writer and activist who founded the feminist movement in Spain. Arenal was born in 1820 in Ferrol, Galicia. In 1829, she and her family moved to Armaño following the death of her father. Arenal witnesses the social inequalities of the time, including the gender inequality imposed by the patriarchal …
Jenny Holzer is an American installation and conceptual feminist artist who is best known for her use of original or borrowed text to create public works of art using LED signs and light projections. Holler was born in 1950 in Gallipolis, Ohio. She intended to become an abstract painter, and studied art at Duke University …
This post is in collaboration with Sheroes of History who researched and wrote the biography of Rosa Luxemburg. Rosa Luxemburg died when she was just 47 years old, and was described as a small, frail woman. But in those 47 years she managed to pack enough in for two lifetimes and leave a huge impression …
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 …
Janis Joplin was an American singer-songwriter who sang blues-influenced rock. She is best known for her number one hit “Me and Bobby McGee” and was known as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul” and the ”First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Joplin was born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas. Joplin had a tough time as …
Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. She is the most honoured female country performer of all time. Parton was born in 1946 in Sevier County, Tennessee. From a young age, she would sing in church and at the age of 7 she …