Peace Activists

Samantha Smith was an American schoolgirl, child actress, and peace activist. She achieved popularity during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States of America; she visited the Soviet Union as a goodwill ambassador which attracted extensive media attention. She also took part in peacemaking activities in Japan before dying in an airplane crash at age 13.

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental, social, and political activist. She achieved popularity after becoming the first African woman to be honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. She is credited with founding a non-governmental organization called The Green Belt Movement (GBM), which focuses on women's rights and environmental conservation.

Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, peace activist, and singer-songwriter. She came into prominence after marrying John Lennon of the Beatles. She is widely criticized for her unquestionable influence over John Lennon and his music. She is also often blamed for the disbandment of The Beatles. Despite all these criticisms, Yoko Ono continues to go on her merry way.

Crushed to death in Gaza by an Israeli armored bulldozer, peace activist Rachel Corrie was also a member of pro-Palestine International Solidarity Movement. Born and raised in USA, she had gone there as part of her college assignment and met her death while trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian houses by Israeli forces, causing international furore.

Daniel Berrigan was an American anti-war activist, Jesuit priest, Christian pacifist, author, poet, and playwright. Berrigan gained national attention for his protest against the Vietnam War, which landed him on the FBI's most-wanted list. He remained a popular anti-war activist throughout his life, co-founding an anti-nuclear weapons movement called the Plowshares movement in 1980.

Martti Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician who served as the tenth president of Finland; he was in office from 1994 to 2000. In 2008, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for playing an important role in resolving long-lasting and serious conflicts, such as the ones in Namibia and Iraq. In 2008, he was also awarded the Delta Prize for Global Understanding.

Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist who played an important role in leading the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, a nonviolent peace movement. The movement played a significant role in ending the Second Liberian Civil War. In 2011, Gbowee shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Tawakkul Karman and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her work concerning women's rights.

Cindy Sheehan is an anti-war activist. Her son, US Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War in 2004. Following his death, she became a passionate anti-war activist and held an extended anti-war protest outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. She is a member of the Peace and Freedom Party.  

Remembered as the first president of the Leland Stanford Junior University, now known as Stanford University, David Starr Jordan was a reputed ichthyologist. An anti-war activist, too, who opposed America’s participation in World War I, he spent his later years as the chief director of the World Peace Foundation.

Betty Williams was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was the president of the World Centre of Compassion for Children International and headed the Global Children's Foundation. She and Mairead Corrigan were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976. She traveled the world and lectured on topics of peace, education, anti-extremism, inter-cultural and inter-faith understanding, and children's rights. 

Peace Pilgrim was a spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, and peace activist. Born as Mildred Lisette Norman, she adopted the name  "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across USA for 28 years, spreading the message of peace. She has few possessions and no organizational backing. She was killed in an automobile accident while on her seventh cross-country journey.  

Philip Berrigan was a peace activist and Catholic priest. He was active in the peace and nuclear disarmament movement and advocated for peaceful and nonviolent protests. He was affiliated with the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. He was married to a former nun and peace activist Elizabeth McAlister. The couple founded Jonah House, a faith-based community. 

Mairead Maguire is a peace activist from Northern Ireland. Along with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, she co-founded the Women for Peace (now known as Community for Peace People). Maguire and Williams received the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. More recently, she was involved in discussions around the Rohingya crisis. She has also called for the abolition of all armies.

Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Jody Williams is known for his contribution to the formation of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She has received 15 honorary degrees and was also named the Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year. She has also penned books such as After the Guns Fall Silent.

Jaime Garzón was a Colombian journalist, politician, comedian, and peace activist. He achieved popularity during the 1990s when he exhibited his unique political satire on Colombian television. He is also remembered for his work as a peace negotiator in the emancipation of FARC guerrillas' hostages. Jaime Garzón was murdered by right-wing paramilitary hitmen in 1999.

The Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr. was a Christian clergyman and peace activist. A multi-talented person, Coffin took part in peace movements and the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a talented pianist, athlete, and CIA officer during his younger days. He was honored with prestigious awards, such as World War II Victory Medal. 

Roger Nash Baldwin was a pacifist who played a major role in the development of the human rights movement in USA. He was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and also founded the International League for the Rights of Man. He was a conscientious objector during World War I. He received the Medal of Freedom in 1981.  

Frédéric Passy was a French pacifist and economist. He is credited with co-founding the Inter-Parliamentary Union as well as many peace societies, such as the Société Française pour l'Arbitrage entre Nations. He is best known for his involvement in the European peace movement, for which he received the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. 

Also known as Padre of Peace, Catholic priest Alec Reid played a major role in the Northern Ireland peace process. He made headlines after being photographed performing the last rites of 2 British soldiers murdered by the IRA. Years later, it was discovered, he was then carrying papers for an ongoing peace settlement.

A Japanese Christian social reformer, Toyohiko Kagawa was educated at the Princeton Theological Seminary in the US and later spearheaded the Friends of Jesus band in Japan, encouraging compassion for the poor and women’s suffrage. His written work is preserved in the 24-volume Kagawa Toyohiko Zenshu.

Eagle Woman was a Lakota activist and translator. She was known for mediating the conflicts between the Sioux, white settlers, and the US government. She was the only woman recognized as chief among the Sioux. Along with her daughter, she organized a day school at Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.  

Mary Emma Woolley was a peace activist, educator, and women's suffrage supporter. The daughter of a socially conscious father, she inherited his values. She became the first woman student to attend Brown University and embarked on an academic career. She went on to serve as the 11th President of Mount Holyoke College.  

Japanese translator and scholar Komaki Ōmiya was better known by his pseudonym, Ōmi Komaki. Born to a politician in Japan, he quit school to be with his father at a conference in France, and never left. Back in Japan, years later, he promoted communism and translated works of French authors.

Fuki Kushida was a Japanese women's rights activist who served as the first Secretary General of the Women's Democratic Club. She is also known for her association with the Federation of Japanese Women's Organizations where she served as the president. Also a peace activist, Kushida is remembered for leading protests against the establishment of the US military bases in Japan.