Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born in Johnstown, New York (November 12, 1815) and passed away in New York, New York (October 26, 1902)

Stanton is credited for setting off the first organized movement for woman’s rights and suffrage with her Declaration of Sentiments, which was presented in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.

She is married to Henry Brewster Stanton and has seven children.

Prior to her work in women’s suffrage, Stanton was a passionate abolitionist like her husband.

Stanton personally attributed her intellectual and academic development and achievement to the support of a family neighbor, Reverend Simon Hosack, whose support was in contrast with the undervalued treatment she received from her father.

The Episcopal Church commemorates Stanton on July 20 in the calendar of saints.

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel, born in Loire Valley, France (August 19, 1883) and passed away in January 10, 1971 (Paris, France)

Contrary to popular belief, Coco had rather humble beginnings. She was born in a peasant village and her father worked as a traveling salesman.

When her mother died of tuberculosis, Coco was entrusted in the care of the orphanage of a Roman Catholic monastery. It was there she had been able to develop her skills as a seamstress.

Coco’s first foray into fashion began with a hobby for designing hats. Her first shop, located in Paris, focused on selling trendy raincoats and jackets. It opened in 1913 but closed in the same year.

Her pioneering work has given her the distinction of being the only fashion figure to be included in Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.

Mata Hari, born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (August 7, 1876) and passed away in Vincennes, France (October 15, 1917

Her real name was Margaretha Geertruida “Grietje” Zelle.

She was arrested, tried, and executed on the basis of intercepted messages regarding the activities of a German spy initially identified as H-21 and which authorities believed was Mata Hari’s code name. During her trial, she was charged for being responsible of the deaths of no less than fifty thousand soldiers.
She was only forty-one years old when she was executed by firing squad.

The French Minister of Defense reopened Mata Hari’s file in 1985 with the encouragement of biographer Russell Warren Howe. The file subsequently revealed that Mata Hari was innocent of all espionage charges made against her.

The Frisian Museum in her hometown features today a Mata Hari Room exhibit.

Eleanor Roosevelt, born in New York (October 11, 1884) and passed away in New York (November 7, 1962)

She served as First Lady of the United States during the term of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, from 1933 to 1945. She was also the first First Lady to assemble her own press conference.

Other offices she held included being Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, President and Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the country’s first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

For thirteen consecutive years, America voted her as the most admirable woman of the country. President Harry Truman also referred to her as the First Lady of the World in acknowledgment of her various accomplishments in the field of human rights, which continued on even after her husband’s death.

Joan of Arc, born in Domrémy, France (circa 1412) and passed away in Rouen, France (May 30, 1941)

Joan of Arc is popularly referred to as the Maid of Orleans. Her feast day is celebrated on the 30th of May and she is generally considered the patron saints of martyrs, prisoners, militants, and female member organizations as the Women’s Army Corps and WAVES.

Joan’s visions allegedly consisted of messages that relayed the need to recover dominion of her homeland from the leadership of the British kingdom during the Hundred Years’ War.

She was only nineteen years old when an ecclesiastical court found her guilty of heresy and was sentenced to death by burning on the stakes.

On May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized St. Joan of Arc at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.