Maathai, Wangari

Maathai, Wangari

(born April 1, 1940, Nyeri, Kenya) Kenyan politician and environmental activist. Maathai was educated in the U.S. and later earned a Ph.D. (1971) at the University of Nairobi, where she then taught veterinary anatomy. In 1977, as a way of conserving land and empowering women, she founded the Green Belt Movement, which recruited women to plant trees in deforested areas; by the early 21st century, it was responsible for the planting of some 30 million trees. Over time the organization also came to include programs in civic and environmental education, advocacy, and job training. Maathai, an outspoken critic of government corruption and supporter of debt cancellation for poor African countries, was elected to Kenya's National Assembly in 2002 and later served as assistant minister of environment, natural resources, and wildlife (2003–05). In 2004 she received the Nobel Prize for Peace, becoming the first black African woman to win a Nobel Prize.