Gertrude learned the language wherever she went, got to know the local politics, and wrote letters home about what she did and saw. Over her lifetime, Gertrude became fluent in eight languages. She also taught herself archeology and was involved in digs in the Ottoman Empire (in the middle of which is now Turkey), Syria, and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). She was becoming an expert on the Middle East.
During World War I, Gertrude worked for the British Intelligence office in Cairo, Egypt, along with TE Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”). Her familiarity with Arabic language, culture, and politics meant she could influence the events in the region to suit the British government.
“It’s so nice to be a spoke in the wheel, one that helps to turn, not one that hinders.”
The British had encouraged Arabs in the region to revolt against Ottoman rule. After the war Gertrude was one of the experts who sat on the panel to decide the new borders within the territory. She was a driving force behind the creation of Iraq and its first king in 1921.
In 1923 Gertrude stepped down from politics and diplomacy to focus on another passion—archeology. Between 1923 and 1926 she established what is now the National Museum of Iraq and was its first director. Gertrude wanted the Iraqis to be able to keep archeological finds from the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations in their own country.
Gertrude is relatively unknown in her home country now, but she is held in high esteem in Iraq. After her death in 1926 she was buried in Baghdad and her grave there has been visited ever since. Many families in the Iraqi capital refer to Gertrude fondly as the “first lady of Iraq.”
Misty Copeland
Principal Ballerina
(b.1982)
Combining athleticism, technique, and emotion, ballet is incredibly demanding. Countless dancers strive to become professional, but only the tiniest number are successful. Among those is Misty Danielle Copeland, the first African American to be made principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York City, USA.
Misty was born in Kansas City, but moved to San Francisco with her mother and five brothers and sisters when she was still very young. She never knew her father, and often struggled with her mother’s partners. She lived in poverty.
When Misty was 13, she auditioned for the school dance team. After performing her own choreography, she was named the captain of the 60-strong squad. Her coach, who had a background in classical dance, recommended that Misty try some ballet classes.
Misty wasn’t convinced that she would enjoy ballet, but she enrolled. For the first few weeks she had no clue what she was meant to be doing, but her instructor, Cindy Bradley, saw her huge potential at once.
Most professional dancers start training at the age of three. From her uncertain, late start, Misty progressed to attending five classes a week. Within three months she could dance en pointe—a technique that takes most dancers years to master.
Cindy knew Misty’s background was very poor, so she didn’t charge to teach her ballet. When Misty’s mother moved and it became impossible for her to travel back and forth between home, school, and ballet classes, Cindy invited Misty into her home during the week, and then Misty saw her mother on the weekends.
“My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn’t let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas.”
When Misty was 15, she won first place at the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards. Later that year she was awarded a full scholarship to the San Francisco Ballet’s six-week summer course. In 1999 and 2000 Misty won scholarships to attend the ABT’s summer school. She was one of six dancers (out of 150) who were asked to join the ABT’s junior troupe. Misty soon rose to fame. In 2007 she became the ABT’s first African-American soloist and in 2015 she became a principal (the highest rank of dancer).
Misty has become an icon of popular culture. In 2016 she was the model for one of the Barbie “Sheroes” range. The doll wore a copy of the red unitard Misty wore in the ballet Firebird. Misty also starred in Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) as the Ballerina.
Misty supports many charitable organizations and regularly mentors young dancers.
Sacagawea
Explorer and Interpreter
(c.1788–1812)
Sacagawea was a Native American from the Shoshone tribe. When she was 11 or 12, she was captured by a party of the Hidatsa tribe and taken to their settlement. A few years later, the French-Canadian explorer and fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau bought Sacagawea and made her one of his many wives.
In 1804 the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark hired Toussaint as a guide. They were going on an expedition to map the West for President Thomas Jefferson.
Meriwether and William asked Toussaint to bring along Sacagawea as an interpreter. They set off in March 1805, just a few weeks after Sacagawea had given birth to a son, Jean Baptiste. She carried her baby with her in a cradleboard.
“Everything I do is for my people.”
Sacagawea was a huge help on the expedition. As well as making it possible for the group to communicate and trade with the Shoshone, she could tell them which roots and plants were edible. She even made them moccasins to wear. On one occasion she rescued Meriwether and William’s journals from a river.
Sacagawea is celebrated to this day. Numerous statues of her stand along the expedition trail. Her image also features on a collectable golden dollar coin produced from 2000.
Mary Kom
Boxer
(b.1983)
Nicknamed “MC Mary Kom” and “Magnificent Mary,” Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born in rural Manipur, a state in northeastern India. The oldest of three children, she helped her parents out in the rice fields. The family was very poor and sometimes they had nothing to eat.
When Mary saw footage of the legendary American boxer Muhammad Ali on television, she was inspired to take up the sport. She trained in secret, because her father had strict ideas about what girls should and shouldn’t do.
In 2000 Mary won the state boxing championship. Her father read about her victory in the papers, but he didn’t start to accept and support her choice of career for another 3 years. Mary won her first World Amateur Boxing Championship in 2002 and her first Asian Women’s Boxing Championship the following year.
“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re weak because you’re a woman.”
In 2012 Mary became the first female Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games. She returned home with a bronze medal, and went on to win gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Mary has set up an academy to teach boxing to children from poor backgrounds in Manipur and other parts of northeastern India. She also cares passionately about animal welfare.
Noor Inayat Khan
Writer and Spy
(1914–44)
In wartime, countries rely on spies—secret agents who adopt false identities, cross enemy lines, and find out inside information that might help win the war. Noor Inayat Khan was a fearless, intelligent, and conscientious spy who worked for Britain during World War II.
Born in Moscow, Russia, Noor was exposed to many cultures as she was growing up. Her father was an Indian Muslim and her mother was an American. During Noor’s childhood, her family moved to London and then Paris, where her father died and Noor was educated. She studied music and medicine and was bilingual in French and English.
In 1939 Noor worked on a collection of Indian children’s stories, which were published in the newspaper Le Figaro. When war broke out, she decided to train as a nurse with the French Red Cross. Shortly before France surrendered to Germany in November 1940, Noor fled to England with her mother and sister.
Noor’s father, a Sufi mystic, had raised her to believe in peace and religious harmony. Noor was determined to work against fascist Germany and support efforts to end the war. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1940 as a radio operator. She was soon noti
ced by Special Operation Executive (SOE) agents and recruited in 1942.
In 1943 Noor was sent to work for a resistance network in Paris. Her job was to radio any intelligence (information) back to London. Soon after she arrived many of the women in the network were arrested. Noor’s bosses urged her to return home. However, she insisted on staying. She wanted to gather as much information as she could before she was found out.
“Liberté!” (Freedom!)
Noor’s last word as she was shot
Over the next 3 months, Noor ran the entire spy network. She had to keep moving and change her identity frequently. Eventually a double agent betrayed Noor and she was arrested by the Gestapo (German Secret Police.) She escaped, but was recaptured within hours. A month later, she was moved to a prison in Germany, where she was chained and kept in solitary confinement.
Despite repeated torture and starvation, Noor never volunteered any information to her captors. After ten months, she was moved to the concentration camp at Dachau, where she was killed by firing squad. After her death, Noor was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the George Cross for her bravery.
Chantal Petitclerc
Wheelchair Racer and Senator
(b.1969–)
Until Chantal Petitclerc was 13 years old, her life was similar to that of many children in her home town of Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, Canada. Then one day Chantal was playing on a friend’s farm when an old barn door fell onto her, breaking her spine.
When Chantal was released from hospital, she was in a wheelchair. She had lost the use of her legs because she was paralyzed from the hips down. Her physical education teacher offered her lunchtime swimming lessons to increase her upper body strength.
Chantal enjoyed the challenge and continued her swimming lessons until she graduated from school. Chantal went on to Université Laval in Quebec City, where she was introduced to wheelchair athletics. She took part in her first competition and even though she came last, she was hooked. She continued to train while she completed her university studies and in 1992 she qualified for the Barcelona Paralympic Games. She brought home two bronze medals.
Over the next 16 years Chantal won more medals than any other Canadian track athlete or sportsperson. She was the only athlete to win gold medals in the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, and Commonwealth Games. This was possible because wheelchair racing was included in the 2004 Olympics as well as the Paralympics.
Chantal has won a total of 21 Paralympic medals (14 golds) and broken 26 world records. In the 2004 Paralympics she won five gold medals—matching the record for a single Games (set by the Canadian swimmer Stephanie Dixon at the 2000 Paralympics). Chantal was chosen to carry the flag at the start of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which took place in Melbourne, Australia.
“I believe in the power of sport to change lives, to make people better, and to empower.”
Chantal retired from wheelchair racing after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Since then she has been a coach and mentor for the British Paralympic teams and Chef de Mission (person in charge) for the Canadian teams at the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games.
Chantal is an ambassador for Right to Play, an international organization that educates children through play to help them overcome trauma and poverty. She also supports the Champions Fund, which gives grants to support promising Canadian female athletes, teams, and tournaments.
Chantal has been awarded honorary doctorates from universities across Canada and the Lou Marsh Trophy for Canadian Athlete of the Year. She was admitted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2016. That same year, she started to serve as a senator for the Canadian government.
Alexandra David-Néel
Explorer and Writer
(1868–1969)
Alexandra David-Néel was an adventurous child, often wandering off through the busy streets of her home city of Paris, France. She converted to Buddhism at 21 years old and this inspired her later travels across India, Japan, and China. In the winter of 1924 Alexandra crossed the Himalayas to Llasa, Tibet. The city was forbidden to foreigners, but she was able to enter it disguised as a beggar. Alexandra returned to Tibet in 1938 and studied Buddhism there for five years.
Alexandra lived to be almost 101. She spent the last 20 years of her life in France and Monaco writing about her travels. According to her wishes, her ashes were scattered in the River Ganges in Varanasi, India.
Natalie Du Toit
Swimmer
(b.1984)
Natalie du Toit was already a successful competitive swimmer when she lost the lower half of her left leg in a car accident at the age of 17. Determined to continue her sporting career, she returned to the pool after 4 months. She decided to compete as a Paralympian for her home country, South Africa.
Natalie was soon winning medals and breaking world records. In 2008 she was one of two Paralympians who qualified for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Over the course of her career, Natalie has won more than 18 gold medals. She retired from the sport in 2012.
Junko Tabei
Mountaineer and Environmentalist
(1939–2016)
Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, as well as climb the highest peaks on all seven of the world’s continents. Junko’s husband, who was also a climber, supported her ambition.
Junko founded Japan’s first women’s climbing club in 1969. Her ascent of Everest took place in May 1975. She continued to climb mountains till the end of her life. Junko worried about damage to Everest, so she returned to university in her sixties to complete a postgraduate degree in environmental science. She worked to protect and preserve delicate mountain environments.
Majlinda Kelmendi
Judoka (Judo Master)
(b.1991)
Majlinda Kelmendi is from Kosovo, a European state that was formed in 2008 from territory that had been part of Serbia. She started judo training at age eight. In 2009 she won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Paris.
Majlinda took part in the 2012 London Olympics but she had to represent Albania—Kosovo was not yet recognized by the Olympic Committee. She achieved her first gold medal for Kosovo at the 2013 World Judo Championships. In the 2016 Rio Olympics Majlinda made history by winning Kosovo’s first Olympic gold. She returned home a national hero. She has also won three gold medals in the European Championships. She competes in the 52-kg (115-lb) weight category.
Amelia Earhart
Aviator
(1897–c.1937)
There are many competing stories about the end of American aviator Amelia Earhart’s life. She and navigator Fred Noonan sparked a huge search when they went missing above the Pacific Ocean in July 1937. Not a trace of them was found—and no trace of the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra aircraft they were flying either. What happened to Amelia and Fred remains a mystery to this day.
Amelia was born in Kansas, USA. In 1917, just after starting university in Pennsylvania, she visited her sister in Toronto, Canada. Wounded soldiers were returning from World War I and Amelia was moved to help. Instead of returning to university, she volunteered at the military hospital.
In 1918 Amelia caught the Spanish flu that was sweeping across the world and would end up killing up to 100 million people. Amelia was hospitalized for two months and had to rest for almost a year. Amelia suffered from sinus problems for the rest of her life.
In 1920 Amelia went to live with her parents in California. It was here that she first flew in a plane. Amelia was so thrilled by the experience that she decided to take flying lessons. In 1921 her mother and sister helped her to buy her first plane, and by 1923 Amelia was a fully qualified pilot.
“The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune.”
In 1928 some promoters asked Amelia if she would be the first woman on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The plane was being piloted by two men so she would just be a passenger. Amelia agreed and returned a hero. She released a bestselling book, 20 Hrs 40
Min (the time the flight took), went on a lecture tour across the United States, and was able to make money by being the “face” of various products and brands.
Wanting to justify her fame, Amelia made a transatlantic solo flight in 1932. She completed the crossing in record time, despite various difficulties along the way. This was the beginning of a series of record-breaking flights and historical firsts. In 1932 she became the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, and in 1935 she was the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the US mainland.
Amelia was one of the pilots who founded the Ninety-Nines in 1929, an organization where women pilots offered each other mutual support. She also designed a clothing line for women who “lived actively.”
When Amelia went missing, she had almost completed a pioneering round-the-world flight. She had packed a lot of living into her 40 years of life.
Simone Biles
Gymnast
(b.1997)
101 Awesome Women Who Changed Our World Page 9
