Everyone has a brilliance, both women and men, we just have to find it, appreciate it and then live it. Well, the women I'm going to focus on with my weekly content, have done just that in their lives and become famous for it!
There are waaaayyyy too many influential women from around the world, both still living and deceased. It was very difficult choosing those to focus on and tough narrowing the list down but here goes with 14 of them that I very much appreciate and acknowledge for their brilliance! They are extremely varied in their attributes but all have accomplished extraordinary successes throughout their lives and have impressed me greatly.
1. Dr. Jane Goodall, an English primatologist and anthropologist continues her extraordinary work at age 88. She's well renowned for her work with chimpanzees since she first went to Tanzania back in 1960. She was named a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002 and is an honorary member of the World Future Council. Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-123456]
2. Dian Fossey, was an American primatologist and conservationist who worked in support of mountain gorillas from 1966 until her murder in 1985. The famous book and movie entitled "Gorillas in the Mist" documents her experiences in Rwanda prior to her death.
3. Dame Daphne Sheldrick of Kenya was an author, conservationist and expert in husbandry focused primarily on reintegrating orphaned elephants into the wild for over 30 years. Her great work is being carried on by her daughter, Angela Sheldrick at Sheldrick's Elephant Sanctuary in Nairobi. You can adopt an orphaned baby elephant to help in this great cause!
4. Anne Frank was born in Germany with Jewish heritage. She became famous posthumously from her famous Diaries published in 1947. Her haunting diaries brought to life the horrors of the Holocaust and she died in one of the Nazi camps at just 15 years old.
5. Amelia Earhart was an American and a pioneer aviator who was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Sadly, in 1937, she mysteriously disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Harris & Ewing, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-123456]
6. Marie Curie, from Poland, was the first woman to win a Nobel prize and the only woman to win 2 Nobel prizes for different fields in science. She developed a portable x-ray to treat soldiers among many other great scientific discoveries. Photo: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library
7. Rosa Parks, another great American, was a civil rights activist. She was best known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. The United States Congress called her 'the first lady of civil rights' and the 'mother of the freedom movement'.
8. Princess Diana, was a member of the British royal family. She was involved in some tremendous charity work throughout her short life initially focused on children and the elderly but then becoming even more well-known for her work in changing attitudes over the acceptance of AIDS patients and the removal of landmines through the International Red Cross. Her untimely death in a car crash in Paris left much of the world mourning.
9. Mother Teresa was born in Macedonia although she spent most of her life in India. She was honored as a saint by the Catholic Church for her founding of and commitment to the Missionaries of Charity, founded in 1950 and active in 133 countries as of 2012. Their primary focus was for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. (Photo from the Library of Congress)
10. Betty White, another great American, was not only an animal welfare advocate, but she also opposed racial injustice, and was a supporter and advocate of LGBT rights. She was much loved as an actor for her roles in The Betty White Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Maude, Golden Girls and many more guest appearances in various television programs over the years.
11. Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan, now 24 years old, became famous when she was shot in the head, at age 15, for attending school, which was against the Taliban in 2012. She is a human rights advocate for female education and was the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
12. Canadian Women's Ice Hockey Team, for their role in inspiring young women in my home country for their 'unparalleled success on the international stage'. They've won the majority of major ice hockey tournaments including four Olympic gold medals and 11 gold medals at the IIHF Women's World Championships.
13. Queen Elizabeth II has been one of the world's greatest monarchs as the Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England since 1952. I have to mention her for the sake of my Mom who has grown up with her since she was just a little girl in Australia and then on to Canada, both Commonwealth countries. Many people may not realize that she is the patron of over 600 organizations and charities that have helped raise over 1.4 billion pounds during her reign.
14. Last, but absolutely not least, Dorothy Mills, for being my fabulous Mom who is 95 years old and still continues to exercise on her treadmill on a regular basis, learned how to ski when she was 60 years old in Killington, Vermont, started playing golf in her later years, but initially played tennis as a youngster and that's how she met my Dad. She continues to amaze me and be my mentor and one of my best friends for life!