94 Years Old Females

Gena Rowlands had an expansive screen and stage career spanning over six-decades. Her remarkable performances won her several accolades including four Emmy and two Golden Globe awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Two of her memorable performances includes in films A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria, both written-directed by her late-husband John Cassavetes and earned her Academy Award nominations.   

Mamie Van Doren is an American former model, singer, and actress. Van Doren achieved popularity during the 1950s and is best known for her performance in the 1957 American teen film Untamed Youth. In 2005, she was honored with a Golden Palm Star. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Chinese phytochemist and malariologist Tu Youyou is best remembered for her Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the anti-malarial drug qinghaosu, or artemisinin. She is the first Chinese female Nobel laureate. A tuberculosis infection in her younger days had inspired her to step into medicine. She later studied traditional Chinese medicine, too.

Caterina Valente is an Italian-French guitarist, multilingual singer, actress, and dancer. Valente, who sings in 11 languages, has worked with artists around the world. She has worked with international stars like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, and Chet Baker. One of her songs titled Bongo cha cha cha was used in the 2019 American film Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Omara Portuondo is a Cuban dancer and singer best known as one of the founding members of a vocal group called Cuarteto d'Aida. Renowned for her versatality, Portuondo has experimented with various styles from boleros to jazz. In 2009, she received the prestigious Latin Grammy Award. In 2019, Omara Portuondo was honored with a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marie Bashir created history when she became the first female governor of New South Wales. A doctor, too, she was initially associated with children’s hospitals and later focused on psychiatry. She also worked for the mentally ill and homeless people from the Aboriginal community of Australia.

The first lady president in the world, Argentine cabaret dancer-turned-politician Isabel Martínez de Perón had taken over the presidency after her husband, President Juan Perón’s death. After being ousted by the military in 1976, she was under a 5-year house arrest. She now lives in a secluded villa near Madrid.

Irish novelist Edna O'Brien is known for dealing with themes related to women’s issues, such as sexual repression of women in a male-dominated society. While she initially studied pharmacy, she later soared to fame with novels such as The Country Girls trilogy, some of which were banned in Ireland for their sexual openness.

A leading American scholar and educationist, Deborah Meier was the person behind the small-schools movement. Initially a kindergarten teacher, she campaigned for education for children from low-income families and also established the Central Park East school network, primarily focusing on New York’s East Harlem.

Born in the Dutch East Indies, Tonke Dragt was 12 when she was interned at a Japanese prisoners’ camp, where she began writing using a pseudonym. She later moved to the Netherlands and emerged as one of the best authors of children's books, including The Letter for the King.         

Biljana Plavšić is a Bosnian Serb retired politician. She is best known for her service as the President of Republika Srpska from 1996 to 1998. She played an important role during the Bosnian War and was later indicted for crimes against humanity during the war. Prior to entering politics, Biljana Plavšić worked as a professor at the University of Sarajevo.

Claudia Andujar is a Swiss-born Brazilian activist and photographer. She has achieved popularity as a photojournalist and her work has been featured on various magazines such as Realidade, Fortune, Aperture, and Life. Claudia Andujar is best known for documenting the culture of the Yanomami tribe. Her efforts to help the Yanomani people earned her a Cultural Freedom Prize in 2000.