Wangari Maathai
Environmentalist, Politician
1940 – 2011
Who was Wangari Maathai?
Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace". Maathai was 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. Furthermore she was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.
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- Born
- Apr 1, 1940
Tetu - Also known as
- Wangari Muta Maathai
- Wangari Muta
- Professor Wangari Maathai
- Dr. Wangari Muta Maathi
- Spouses
- Mwangi Mathai
(1969/05 - 1979)
- Mwangi Mathai
- Children
- Ethnicity
- Kikuyu people
- Nationality
- Kenya
- Profession
- Education
- Master's Degree, University of Pittsburgh
Biology
(1964 - 1966) - Bachelor of Science, Benedictine College
Biology
( - 1964) - Doctorate, University of Nairobi
Anatomy
(1969 - ) - St. Cecilia's Intermediate Primary School
( - 1956) - Loreto High School, Limuru
(1956 - 1959) - Ihithe Primary School
- University of Giessen
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
- Master's Degree, University of Pittsburgh
- Employment
- University of Nairobi
- Lived in
- Nairobi
- Died
- Sep 25, 2011
Nairobi
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Wangari Maathai." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/wangari_maathai>.
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