June 22, 2023
By Aswirbaad Das
Since time immemorial, countless women have helped reshape the world with their passion, strength and perseverance. From activists to inventors to world leaders, our world wouldn’t be the same without them. Let’s appreciate these 8 incredible women who have created and changed history.
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The Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra VII, was the last Pharaoh of Egypt and ruled from 51 BC until her death in 30 BC. Unlike women of her time, she was well-read in many subjects and defied the submissive role women were supposed to play in politics.
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Born in 1412, Joan of Arc remains the patron saint of France and one of the fiercest warriors in history. In the Hundred Years War, with no military training, she led the French army to the besieged city of Orléans, where they achieved a stunning victory over the English.
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Born in London on December 10, 1815, Ada Lovelace was a pioneer of computer science. Under the tutelage of Charles Babbage, the ‘father of computers’, Ada wrote the program for his mechanical computer ‘The Analytical Machine’ and became the world’s first computer programmer!
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The ‘Iron Lady of India’, Indira Gandhi is India’s only female Prime Minister and also among the most influential politicians of all time. She served our nation for three consecutive terms from 1966–77, and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.
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Marie Curie was a pioneer in science. She is the only woman to have received Nobel prizes in two separate fields–in 1903 for Physics, with her husband Pierre and Henri Bequerel, and in 1911 for Chemistry. She also discovered the groundbreaking elements polonium and radium.
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The ‘Mother of the modern-day civil rights movement’, Rosa Parks was famous for her refusal to relinquish her bus seat to a white man on December 1st, 1955. This defiance led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racism.
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A champion for girls’ education around the world, Malala Yousafzai’s tale is one for the ages. At 15, she survived an assassination attempt by the Pakistani Taliban for challenging their law prohibiting women from going to schools and colleges. She also won the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the youngest to do so.
Image source: Alamy