--- description: Wangari Maathai is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Wangari Maathai: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992e2501ca6d238c/698a0aea011682d92197f0db/social-2001_Wangari-Maathai.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2001: Wangari Maathai Mar 5, 2020 11:41 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Art by Bisa Butler for TIME; Clemens Scharre—The Right Livelihood Foundation by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:41 AM CUT [Wangari Maathai](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745%5F2102136%5F2102234,00.html "undefined") was the first woman in Central and East Africa to earn a Ph.D., but she learned the ways of the world by planting trees. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement to teach peasant women livelihoods while reforesting urban areas. That wholesome pursuit was seen as a threat by Kenya’s land-grabbing politicians, and in 2001, Maathai spent International Women’s Day in jail, where she often found herself. But having found organic links between environmentalism, poverty reduction and democratic rights, she a year later won a Parliament seat with 98% of the vote. The Nobel Peace Prize followed in 2004\. By the time of her death in 2011, Maathai had taken on palm-oil plantations in Southeast Asia, and her movement, with branches in 30 countries, had planted 50 million trees. _—Karl Vick_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/wangari-maathai-2001-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"2001: Wangari Maathai","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:41:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:51.179Z","description":"Wangari Maathai is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992e2501ca6d238c/698a0aea011682d92197f0db/social-2001_Wangari-Maathai.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992e2501ca6d238c/698a0aea011682d92197f0db/social-2001_Wangari-Maathai.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 2001 Wangari-Maathai","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793752/wangari-maathai-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"2001: Wangari Maathai"}}]}] ```