Society

Bathsheba is a figure from the Old Testament, wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of King David after Uriah's death. As the mother of Solomon, she played a decisive role in the royal succession by interceding with David to ensure her son would inherit the throne of Israel.

Jewish preacher from Galilee and founder of Christianity. His teachings on love, forgiveness, and the Kingdom of God transformed the course of human history. Crucified around 30 AD, he is considered by Christians to be the risen Son of God.

Roxana was a Bactrian princess, the first wife of Alexander the Great, whom he married in 327 BC following the conquest of Bactria. She was the mother of Alexander IV, the posthumous heir to the empire.

A fisherman from Galilee who became one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, Peter is considered the first pope of the Catholic Church. He was martyred in Rome around 64–68 AD.

An Irish noblewoman of the 14th century, Alice Kyteler was the first person officially condemned for witchcraft in Ireland in 1324. Accused of poisoning her husbands and practicing heretical rites, she managed to flee before her execution, leaving her servant Petronilla de Meath to be burned alive in her place.

Agnes Waterhouse was the first woman executed for witchcraft in England, hanged in 1566 in Chelmsford. Her trial, one of the earliest documented witchcraft trials in England, illustrates the rise of persecution driven by fear of black magic during the Tudor period.

Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1702 to 1707, then first Queen of Great Britain following the Acts of Union of 1707. Her reign saw the rise of parliamentary government and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Cardinal and chief minister of state of France, he governed the kingdom during Louis XIV's minority under the regency of Anne of Austria. Richelieu's successor, he signed the Treaties of Westphalia and overcame the Fronde to consolidate the monarchy.

Esther Johnson (1681–1728), known by the nickname "Stella", was the close friend and confidante of the writer Jonathan Swift. Their intellectual and epistolary relationship, chronicled in the Journal to Stella, makes her a notable figure in English literary life of the 18th century.

Anglo-Irish writer and satirist (1667–1745), Jonathan Swift is the author of Gulliver's Travels. Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, he used literature as a political and social weapon against the injustices of his time.

Poisoner, fortune-teller, and abortionist in 17th-century Paris, Catherine Deshayes was the central figure of the Affair of the Poisons (1679–1682). Supplying poisons, love potions, and black masses to an aristocratic clientele, she was burned alive at the Place de Grève in 1680.

Nicknamed “the Great Condé,” this prince of the blood distinguished himself at the Battle of Rocroi (1643) by crushing the Spanish infantry. A key figure in the Fronde, he eventually reconciled with Louis XIV and remained one of the greatest military commanders of the Grand Siècle.

A Carmelite nun at the convent of Louviers, Madeleine Bavent was at the center of a demonic possession affair and witchcraft accusations in 1647. Her trial, emblematic of the excesses of the witch hunts, led to the execution of Father Thomas Boulle and the condemnation of several members of the religious community.

French noblewoman from the House of Dreux, a family of high Capetian lineage. A figure of the French aristocracy in the early modern period, her name combines Catholic devotion with membership in one of France's great seigneurial dynasties.

A French aristocrat of the 17th century, notorious for poisoning her father and brothers in order to inherit their fortune. Her trial and execution in 1676 triggered the Affair of the Poisons, exposing the widespread use of poison in high society.

Official favorite of Louis XIV from 1667 to 1681, she reigned over the court of Versailles and had seven legitimized children with the Sun King. Implicated in the Affair of the Poisons, she subsequently fell from grace.

A Pomeranian noblewoman born around 1590, Sidonie von Borcke was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. Beheaded in 1620 in Stettin, her trial illustrates the violence of persecutions against women in the early modern period.

An enslaved woman of Native American or Caribbean origin (probably Arawak), owned by Reverend Samuel Parris in Salem. In 1692, she was the first accused to confess to witchcraft, triggering the spiral of the Salem witch trials.

A Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Alexandra Kollontai was one of the first women in the world to hold a diplomatic post. A theorist of socialist feminism, she championed women's emancipation and freedom from traditional marriage.

British feminist political activist (1858–1928)

British nurse and statistician (1820–1910), she revolutionized hospital care during the Crimean War. A pioneer of public health, she founded the first secular nursing school and used statistics to demonstrate the critical importance of hygiene.

abolitionist orator and writer, leader of the African-American community in the 19th century

Founder of the Red Cross, first Nobel Peace Prize laureate

British painter and engraver (1775-1851), Turner is considered the master of Romantic landscape. A forerunner of Impressionism, he revolutionized the depiction of light, water, and atmosphere.

An American social reformer, Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889, a settlement house serving immigrants and disadvantaged communities. A sociologist and committed pacifist, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Kartini (1879-1904) was a Javanese noblewoman who fought for Indonesian women's access to education under Dutch colonial rule. Her letters in Dutch, published posthumously under the title "Through Darkness into Light," inspired the Indonesian feminist movement and made her a major national figure.

Since 1848, France has had 25 presidents. The role, largely ceremonial under the Third and Fourth Republics, became central under the Fifth Republic established by de Gaulle in 1958.

Italian physician and educator

A Giriama woman from Kenya, Mekatilili wa Menza led the resistance against British colonial rule during the 1913–1914 revolt. Arrested and deported, she escaped and continued fighting for her people's freedom.

Nephew of Napoleon I, he was elected President of the Republic in 1848, then seized power through a coup d'état on December 2, 1851, before proclaiming the Second Empire. His reign profoundly transformed France: the modernization of Paris under Haussmann, industrial and railway expansion — until the defeat at Sedan in 1870.

African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist

Truganini (c. 1812–1876) was an Aboriginal woman from Tasmania who witnessed the near-extermination of her people during the Black War. She was deported to Flinders Island along with the last surviving Tasmanian Aboriginals. Long referred to as 'the last Tasmanian', she became a global symbol of colonial genocide.

A South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian descent, Amina Cachalia devoted her life to fighting racial segregation in South Africa. A close ally of Nelson Mandela and the ANC, she was a leading figure in the Federation of South African Women.

African-American civil rights activist, philosopher, and university professor born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. An iconic figure of the Black Power movement and intersectional feminism, she was imprisoned in 1970 before being acquitted. She remains a leading voice against systemic racism and social inequality.

Russian journalist and activist, Anna Politkovskaya distinguished herself through her courageous reporting on the Chechen wars and human rights abuses under Putin. Assassinated in Moscow in 2006, she became a symbol of press freedom and resistance against authoritarian regimes.

Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist, essayist, and activist born in 1961. Her novel The God of Small Things (1997) won the Booker Prize. She is a vocal advocate against nuclear weapons, dam construction, and social inequality in India.

Dolores Huerta, née en 1930 en Nouvelle-Mexique, est une militante syndicale et des droits civiques américaine. Cofondatrice avec César Chávez de l'United Farm Workers (UFW), elle a défendu les droits des travailleurs agricoles migrants, majoritairement latinos. Son slogan « Sí, se puede ! » est devenu un symbole mondial de la lutte pour la justice sociale.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022, Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She embodied the stability of constitutional monarchy through decolonisation, the Cold War, and globalisation.

British actress born in 1990, who rose to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. She became an international feminist activist, notably as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and promoter of the HeForShe campaign.

Nigerian musician and activist

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Nigerian educator and activist (1900–1978), she led the Abeokuta women's movement against British colonial taxation. A pioneer of women's suffrage in Nigeria, she was the first woman to drive a car in her country and the mother of musician Fela Kuti.

Secretary General of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1994, Georges Marchais was one of the major figures of the French left during the Cold War. He embodied an orthodox communism, publicly supporting the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1980.

A Mozambican activist born in 1945, Graça Machel has established herself as a global figure in the defense of children's rights and women's rights. First Lady of Mozambique and later of South Africa, she has dedicated her life to fighting poverty and advancing education.

French filmmaker (1931–1990), a major figure of the French New Wave, celebrated for his poetic musicals blending vivid colors with melancholy. Director of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.

Prime Minister of independent India from 1947 to 1964, Nehru was one of the architects of independence alongside Gandhi. Architect of the modern Indian state, he embodied the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.

French singer, dancer, and revue performer of American origin

An Australian activist for Indigenous peoples' rights, Lowitja O'Donoghue was the first Aboriginal woman to lead ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission). A trained nurse, she dedicated her life to defending civil rights and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

South African jazz singer and political activist

Collective nickname for the prominent Togolese businesswomen who dominated the wax fabric market in Lomé from the 1960s onward. Iconic figures of female entrepreneurship in West Africa, they earned their nickname from the Mercedes-Benz cars they could afford thanks to their commercial fortunes.

Naomi Ōsaka is a Japanese-American professional tennis player born in 1997 in Osaka. A former world number 1, she has won four Grand Slam titles. She has also been a vocal advocate for social justice and athletes' mental health.

Soviet leader from 1953 to 1964, Khrushchev succeeded Stalin and launched a policy of de-Stalinization. A central figure of the Cold War, he confronted the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

American jazz singer, pianist, composer, and civil rights activist for Black people

Guatemalan political activist and human rights defender

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was a major American intellectual of the 20th century — essayist, novelist, and activist. Known for her reflections on photography, illness, and war, she profoundly shaped contemporary critical thought.

Tarana Burke is an American civil rights activist and founder of the #MeToo movement in 2006. She has dedicated her life to supporting survivors of sexual violence, particularly in underprivileged Black communities.

Māori princess from New Zealand (1883–1952), granddaughter of King Tāwhiao, she devoted her life to the cultural and political revival of her people. She resisted the conscription of Māori during World War I and built the village of Tūrangawaewae, a symbol of Māori dignity.

Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist (1870–1924), Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 and founded the Soviet Union. He developed Leninism, an adaptation of Marxism to Russian conditions.

2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Green Belt Movement, Kenyan

A New Zealand Māori activist, Whina Cooper dedicated her life to defending her people's land rights. In 1975, at the age of 80, she led the great Māori Land March from Te Hapua to Wellington. Regarded as the 'Mother of the Nation' of the Māori people, she remains a symbol of peaceful resistance.

Nigerian writer

Pakistani activist for girls' education