2004 Nobel Peace Prize
| Wangari Muta Maathai | |||
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Wangari Maathai holding a trophy awarded to her by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
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| Born |
Wangari Muta 1 April 1940 Ihithe village, Tetu division, Nyeri District, Kenya (then known as Nyeri, Kenya Colony) |
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| Died | 25 September 2011 (aged 71) Nairobi, Kenya |
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| Citizenship | Kenyan | ||
| Education |
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| Occupation | Environmentalist, political activist, writer | ||
| Known for | Green Belt Movement | ||
| Awards |
Nobel Peace Prize (2004) Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (2006) |
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| Wangari Maathai | |
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| Audio | |
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 Wangari Maathai — Planting the Future, On Being, 29 September 2011 |
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| Video | |
 Maathai Nobel Prize lecture
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Climate Change TV Video interview with Dr Wangari Muta Maathai. Filmed during the Conference of the Parties meeting in Poznan, Poland, December 2008 |
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Wangari Maathai presents a talk as a part of the Architecture and Climate Change lecture series held by the Royal Institute of British Architects
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Audio: Wangari Maathai in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme The Forum
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Video: Wangari Maathai tells the story of the Hummingbird
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Wangari Muta Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was an internationally renowned Kenyan environmental political activist and Nobel laureate. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica (Benedictine College) and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1984, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace". Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. She was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.
On 1 April 1940, Maathai was born in the village of Ihithe, Nyeri District, in the central highlands of the colony of Kenya. Her family was Kikuyu, the most populous ethnic group in Kenya, and had lived in the area for several generations. Around 1943, Maathai's family relocated to a White-owned farm in the Rift Valley, near the town of Nakuru, where her father had found work. Late in 1947, she returned to Ihithe with her mother, as two of her brothers were attending primary school in the village, and there was no schooling available on the farm where her father worked. Her father remained at the farm. Shortly afterward, at the age of eight, she joined her brothers at Ihithe Primary School.
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