Wangari Maathai

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Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Maathai (born April 1, 1940 in Ihithe village, Nyeri District) is a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In 2004 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace" — the first African woman to receive the award. Hon. Dr. Maathai is also an elected member of Parliament and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. She is a member of Kikuyu ethnic group.

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[edit] Education

Maathai went to Ihithe Primary School before moving to Loreto Convent Secondary School in Limuru. After finishing school in Kenya, Maathai studied Biology in the United States and Germany. She received her Bachelor's degree in biology from Mount St. Scholastica (now Benedictine College) in 1964, and her Master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, before returning to Nairobi, where, at the University of Nairobi, she earned the first Ph.D. awarded to an Eastern African woman (in veterinary medicine). In 1971, she became professor for veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi, and then later dean of her faculty. In 2002 Maathai accepted a position as Visiting Fellow at Yale University's Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry.

[edit] Activism and political life

In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots environmental non-governmental organization, which has now planted over 30 million trees across the country to prevent soil erosion. She has come to be affectionately called "Tree Woman". Since then, she has been increasingly active on both environmental and women's issues.

Maathai was also the former chairperson of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (the National Council of Women of Kenya). In the 1980s her husband divorced her, saying she was too strong-minded for a woman, and that he was unable to control her. The judge in the divorce case agreed with the husband.

During the regime of President Daniel Arap Moi, she was imprisoned several times and violently attacked for demanding multi-party elections and an end to political corruption and tribal politics. In 1989 Maathai almost single-handedly saved Nairobi's Uhuru Park by stopping the construction by Moi's business associates of the 60-story Kenya Times Media Trust business complex.

In 1997, in Kenya's second multi-party elections marred by ethnic violence, she ran for the country's presidency, but her party withdrew her candidacy. Nevertheless, she was a minor candidate among several contenders.

In 2002 Maathai was elected to parliament when the National Rainbow Coalition, which she represented, defeated the ruling party Kenya African National Union. She has been Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife since 2003. She founded the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya in 2003.

On 28 March 2005, she was elected as the first president of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council.

In 2006 she was one of the eight flag bearers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Also on May 21, 2006 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by and gave the commencement address at Connecticut College.

Her autobiography, Unbowed: One Woman’s Story, was released in September 30, 2006.

[edit] Nobel Peace Prize

Maathai, holding a trophy awarded to her by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission
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Maathai, holding a trophy awarded to her by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission

"Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya" the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement announcing her as the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression — nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation."

[edit] Controversy

Maathai caused a stir among media commentators when, at a press conference following the announcement of the Nobel award, she spoke out in favor of the claim that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was the product of bio-engineering, and then released in Africa by unidentified Western scientists as a weapon of mass destruction to "punish Blacks." The claim is supported by only a small minority, and is one of many AIDS conspiracy theories.

She has since clarified her position, saying:

I have warned people against false beliefs and misinformation such as attributing this disease to a curse from God or believing that sleeping with a virgin cures the infection. These prevalent beliefs in my region have led to an upsurge in rape and violence against children. It is within this context, also complicated by the cultural and religious perspective that I often speak. I have therefore been shocked by the ongoing debate, generated by what I am purported to have said. It is therefore critical for me to state that I neither say nor believe that the virus was developed by white people or white powers in order to destroy the African people. Such views are wicked and destructive.

from the Green Belt Movement website- Wangari Maathai's "The Challenge of AIDS in Africa"

[edit] Personal life

In 1969 Wangari Muta married Mwangi Mathai, a politician who divorced her after a few years. She was put in jail for speaking out against the judge, who then decreed that she must drop her husband's surname. In defiance, Wangari chose to add an extra "a" instead.

(from "Conservation and Feminism: Africa's Greenheart." The Economist, 21 Sep 2006.)

[edit] Awards

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] See also

[edit] External links and sources

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Nobel Peace Prize: Laureates (2001—)

2001: UN, Annan | 2002: Carter | 2003: Ebadi | 2004: Maathai | 2005: IAEA, ElBaradei | 2006: Grameen Bank, Yunus


Persondata
NAME Maathai, Wangari Muta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Kenyan environmental and political activist
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Ihithe village, Nyeri District, Kenya
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH
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