Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was born 1 April 1940 in the Nyeri District in the central highlands of Kenya.When she was young, her family moved to the Rift Valley, where she lived near the nature and so this became a strong motivation for promoting conservation of the natural landscape.  Maathai’s academic career was successful, and she became the first woman to be appointed to various positions of seniority at Nairobi University. Using her position of influence, she sought to campaign for equal benefits for the female staff. She founded the Green Belt Movement in the 1970s seeking to promote environmental conservation in Kenya and Africa. She became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” Maathai died in 2011 from complications arising from Ovarian cancer.