Wangari Maathai
1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011 · Nyeri, Kenya
Kenyan biologist who founded the Green Belt Movement, linking tree planting with women's empowerment and democracy, and became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
LIFE
Wangari Muta Maathai was born on 1 April 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. She studied biology in the United States and earned a PhD from the University of Nairobi in 1971, becoming the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate, according to the Nobel Prize biography. She died of ovarian cancer on 25 September 2011, aged 71, according to the Green Belt Movement.
WORK
In 1976, while serving on the National Council of Women of Kenya, she introduced the idea of community tree planting, which became the Green Belt Movement in 1977. The movement uses tree planting as an entry point for community empowerment, better environmental management and improved livelihoods, with a strong focus on women. She was elected to Kenya's parliament in December 2002 and served as Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife.
EARTH
Deforestation, soil erosion and water loss; women's livelihoods and democratic rights
IMPACT
She received the Right Livelihood Award (1984), the Goldman Environmental Prize (1991) and, in 2004, the Nobel Peace Prize, which the Nobel biography links to her long struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. The Green Belt Movement's own website reports that its groups have grown millions of trees across Kenya; this figure is the organisation's own account.
LEGACY
The Green Belt Movement continues her community tree-planting and advocacy work, and in 2010 she co-founded the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies with the University of Nairobi. At her state funeral, Al Jazeera reported, her coffin was made of water hyacinth and papyrus rather than wood, in keeping with her wishes.
TIMELINE
- 1940Born in Nyeri, Kenya.
- 1971Earns a PhD from the University of Nairobi.
- 1977Founds the Green Belt Movement.
- 1984Receives the Right Livelihood Award.
- 1991Receives the Goldman Environmental Prize.
- 2002Elected to Kenya's parliament; later Assistant Minister for Environment.
- 2004Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 2011Dies of ovarian cancer on 25 September, aged 71.
SOURCES
- award body
Wangari Maathai — Biographical — The Nobel Prize (nobelprize.org), 2004Supports: Born 1940 in Nyeri; education and 1971 PhD; tree planting idea 1976; parliament 2002; assistant minister; Nobel Peace Prize 2004; died 25 September 2011. - organisational
Wangari Maathai: Biography — Green Belt MovementSupports: Birth date; death date and cause; led GBM 1977–2002; Wangari Maathai Institute 2010; honours list. - organisational
Who We Are — Green Belt MovementSupports: Founded 1977; tree planting as an entry point for community empowerment. - reputable journalism
Kenyans mourn for 'Tree Mother of Africa' — Al Jazeera, 8 October 2011Supports: Died of ovarian cancer aged 71; state funeral; coffin of water hyacinth and papyrus.