Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist. In 1977, she spearheaded the struggle against state-backed deforestation in Kenya and founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted some 45 million trees in the country. She has also been an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and democratic development. She won the Right Livelihood Award in 1984. Twenty years later she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She died on Sept. 25, 2011 at the age of 71.