Wangari Muta Maathai

Also known as Wangari Maathaï, Maathai, WangariMaathai, Wangari Maathai

Kenyan environmentalist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 (1940–2011)

AI overview

Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmentalist and politician who founded the Green Belt Movement to promote tree-planting and environmental conservation in Africa. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work linking environmental protection to human rights and social justice, and remains an influential figure in the global environmental movement.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Film & TV

Known for

Afrique[s], une autre histoire du XXème siècle - Acte 1 — self2010
Afrique(s), une autre histoire du XXème siècle — Self2010
Dirt! The Movie — Self2009
Here to Stay — Self2009
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai — Self2008
The 11th Hour — Self2007
From the Interior, Colonized — as herself1992

via TMDB

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize2004
“for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”

NobelPrize.org →

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: female
Citizenship: Kenya
Place of birth: Nyeri
Place of death: Nairobi
Child: Wanjira Mathai
Occupation: politician
Employer: Yale University
Political party: Mazingira Green Party of Kenya
Languages spoken: Gikuyu
Native language: Kikuyu
Religion: Catholic Church
Academic degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Hair colour: black hair
Image: Wangari Matthai 2001 (cropped).jpg
Work location: Nairobi
Residence: Nairobi

Show 11 more facts

name in native language: Wangari Maathai
member of: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Commons category: Wangari Maathai
date of birth: 1940-04-01
ethnic group: Kikuyu
Commons gallery: Wangari Maathai
cause of death: ovarian cancer
birth name: Wangarĩ Muta
P10632: Wangari Muta Maathai
date of death: 2011-09-25
manner of death: natural causes

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Wangarĩ Maathai (/wænˈɡɑːri mɑːˈðaɪ/; 1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on planting trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

As a beneficiary of the Kennedy Airlift, she studied in the United States, earning a bachelor's degree from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas, and a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. She then became the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy, receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1984, she received the Right Livelihood Award for "converting the Kenyan ecological debate into mass action for reforestation."

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wangari Muta Maathai” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (5)

Available in 107 languages

Show 88 more

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0