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Women of History

• Melisende of Jerusalem

• Joan of Arc

• Isabella of Spain

• Elizabeth I

• Grace O'Malley

• Hannah Emerson Dustin

• Catherine the Great

• Ada Byron Lovelace

• Victoria Woodhull

• Emmeline Pankhurst

• Countess Markievicz

• Jane Digby 

• Indira Ghandi

• Sirimavo Bandaranaike

• Fanny Pearson

• Meena

• Lilian Ngoyi

EMMELINE PANKHURST  Born 1858

This British suffragist was staging newsworthy demonstrations long before modern activists hit the streets. When ladylike lobbying failed to move Parliament to give women the vote in national elections, the middle-class mother of five and her Women's Social and Political Union began disrupting meetings, marching through the streets, smashing windows and burning down unoccupied real estate. She and her daughters were repeatedly sent to jail, where they continued to protest with hunger strikes. However, they agreed to suspend hostilities during World War I, and after armistice, women over the age of 30 won the vote. In 1928, just before she died, Pankhurst finally witnessed suffrage. You can read more on the life of Emmeline Pankhurst here.