[ 2011-09-26 ]

Kenyan Nobel laureate Maathai dies
Kenyan Wangari Maathai, the first woman from
Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize, died Monday
after a battle with cancer. She was 71.

"It is with great sadness that the Green Belt
Movement announces the passing of its founder and
chair, Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai, after a long
illness bravely borne," her organization said.

Maathai, an environmentalist, had long campaigned
for human rights and the empowerment of Africa's
most impoverished people.

More than 30 years ago she founded the Green Belt
Movement, a tree-planting campaign to
simultaneously mitigate deforestation and to give
locals, especially women and girls, access to
resources like firewood for cooking and clean
water. They have since planted more than 40
million trees.

In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
her efforts to promote sustainable development,
democracy and peace. She was the first woman from
the continent to win the prize.

"Her departure is untimely and a very great loss
to all of us who knew her—as a mother, relative,
co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine—or
those who admired her determination to make the
world a peaceful, healthy, and better place for
all of us," said Karanja Njoroge, executive
director of the Green Belt Movement.

Born in Nyeri, Kenya, on April 1, 1940, Maathai
blazed many trails in her life.

She was the first woman in East and Central Africa
to earn a doctorate degree. In December 2002, she
was elected to Kenya's parliament with an
overwhelming 98% of the vote.

She was honored by Time magazine in 2005 as one of
100 most influential people in the world. And
Forbes listed her as one of 100 most powerful
women in the world.

In April 2006, France bestowed its highest honor
on her: the Legion d'Honneur.

Maathai leaves behind three children and a
granddaughter.

Source - CNN

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