Wangari Maathai

Environmentalist and First African Woman to Win the Nobel Peace Prize

Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai
Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images

Dates: April 1, 1940 - September 25, 2011

Also Known as: Wangari Muta Maathai

Fields: ecology, sustainable development, self-help, tree planting, environment, member of Parliament in Kenya, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife

Firsts: first woman in central or eastern Africa to hold a Ph.D., the first woman head of a university department in Kenya, first African woman to win the Nobel Prize in Peace

About Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya in 1977, which has planted more than 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for cooking fires. A 1989 United Nations report noted that only 9 trees were being replanted in Africa for every 100 that were cut down, causing serious problems with deforestation: soil runoff, water pollution, difficulty finding firewood, lack of animal nutrition, etc.

The program has been carried out primarily by women in the villages of Kenya, who through protecting their environment and through the paid employment for planting the trees are able to better care for their children and their children's future.

Born in 1940 in Nyeri, Wangari Maathai was able to pursue higher education, a rarity for girls in rural areas of Kenya. Studying in the United States, she earned her biology degree from Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas and a master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh.

When she returned to Kenya, Wangari Maathai worked in veterinary medicine research at the University of Nairobi, and eventually, despite the skepticism and even opposition of the male students and faculty, was able to earn a Ph.D. there. She worked her way up through the academic ranks, becoming head of the veterinary medicine faculty, a first for a woman at any department at that university.

Wangari Maathai's husband ran for Parliament in the 1970s, and Wangari Maathai became involved in organizing work for poor people and eventually, this became a national grass-roots organization, providing work and improving the environment at the same time. The project has made significant headway against Kenya's deforestation.

Wangari Maathai continued her work with the Green Belt Movement and working for environmental and women's causes. She also served as national chairperson for the National Council of Women of Kenya.

In 1997 Wangari Maathai ran for the presidency of Kenya, though the party withdrew her candidacy a few days before the election without letting her know; she was defeated for a seat in Parliament in the same election.

In 1998, Wangari Maathai gained worldwide attention when the Kenyan President backed development of a luxury housing project and building began by clearing hundreds of acres of Kenya forest.

In 1991, Wangari Maathai was arrested and imprisoned; an Amnesty International letter-writing campaign helped free her. In 1999 she suffered head injuries when attacked while planting trees in the Karura Public Forest in Nairobi, part of a protest against continuing deforestation. She was arrested numerous times by the government of Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.

In January 2002, Wangari Maathai accepted a position as Visiting Fellow at Yale University's Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry.

And in December 2002, Wangari Maathai was elected to Parliament, as Mwai Kibaki defeated Maathai's long-time political nemesis, Daniel arap Moi, for 24 years the President of Kenya. Kibaki named Maathai as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in January 2003.

Wangari Maathai died in Nairobi in 2011 of cancer.

More About Wangari Maathai

  • Wangari Maathai and Jason Bock. The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience. 2003.
  • Wallace, Aubrey. Eco-Heroes: Twelve Tales of Environmental Victory. Mercury House. 1993.
  • Dianne Rocheleau, Barbara Thomas-Slayter and Esther Wangari, editors. Feminist Political Ecology: Global Issues and Local Experiences.
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Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Wangari Maathai." ThoughtCo, Sep. 29, 2021, thoughtco.com/wangari-maathai-biography-3530667. Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2021, September 29). Wangari Maathai. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/wangari-maathai-biography-3530667 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Wangari Maathai." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/wangari-maathai-biography-3530667 (accessed March 28, 2024).