Extraordinary Women of the 20th Century: Part II Quiz

Answer: Literature

Ayn Rand (1906-1982) born in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was a Russian-American novelist, playwright and screenwriter. She moved to the USA in 1926 and became a US citizen in 1931. She is known for her two best-selling novels "The Fountainhead" (1943) and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957).

She developed a philosophical system called objectivism. In a sense it simply means that individualism triumphs collectivism.

Answer: Aviation

Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first African-American woman to hold a pilot and international pilot license. She became obsessed with flying after hearing stories of pilots during WWI. As American aviation schools would not accept female trainees, she was sponsored to travel to France where she gained her international pilot license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

In her honor there are roads named after her at various airports, including O'Hare (United States), Frankfurt (Germany) and Nice (France).

Answer: Exploring

Harriet Chalmers Adams (1875-1937) was an American adventurer, explorer, photographer and writer. She published many of her travels in the National Geographic magazine which included extensive trips to South America, South Pacific and Asia.

Answer: Athletics

Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994) was an American track sprinter. Her first Olympics was in Melbourne (1956) as a sixteen year old, winning a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 relay. However, it was at the Rome Olympics (1960) that she showed her class by winning three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4 x 100 relay). Due to these exploits she was referred to by the Italians as "The Black Gazelle" and by the French as "The Black Pearl".

Her feats are amazing, as up to the age of 11 years she wore a brace and orthopedic shoe on her left leg due to polio.

Answer: Activism

Huda Shaarawi (1879-1947) was raised in a harem which kept women veiled and secluded. She was well-educated and had a great influence on women, not only in Egypt but also in the Arab world. In 1908 she opened a philanthropic society run by women and in 1923 she founded the Egyptian Feminist Union.

In 1923, in front of a public crowd, she removed her veil. There was an initial shock, then cheering and applause. Many women today do not wear a veil as prior to 1923 it was not a choice but a requirement.

Her book "The Harem Years" was only published in 1987, 40 years after her death.

Answer: Acting

Bette Davis (1908-1989) was the first person to receive ten Academy Award nominations for acting. The awards spanned from 1935-1962 where she won two Academy Awards for Best Actress (1935 and 1938). She performed on the stage, film and television, however she first appeared in some Broadway plays, but eventually moved to Hollywood in 1930.

She was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1999 she was placed second behind Katharine Hepburn on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

Answer: Politics

Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973) was the first female to be elected to the U.S House of Representatives; this happened in 1916 in Montana. She won a second term 24 years later in 1940. It is surprising that each of her terms coincided with US military intervention in both WWI and WWII.

She was a pacifist and voted against intervention in WWI and against the declaration of war against Japan in 1941. Throughout her career she was a strong advocate of women's rights, equality and civil rights.

Answer: Science

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) was an American scientist who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1983. She had received her PhD in Botany in 1927. Throughout her career she focused research on the development of maize cytogenetics. This means studying the structure and function of the cell, especially the chromosomes. Since her death she has appeared on postage stamps in the USA and Sweden.

Answer: Espionage

Nancy Wake (1912-2007) was born in New Zealand but from two years of age was raised in Australia. After training as a nurse and then as a journalist she found herself in Europe in the 1930s. She married Henri Edmond Fiocca (1898-1943) in 1939 and they settled in Marseille, France.

After the fall of France to Germany in 1940 she became a courier for the French Resistance. She continually avoided capture and the German's code named her "The White Mouse". In 1943 with a five million-franc price tag on her head and she eventually found her way to London were she joined the British Special Operations Executive.

Her husband was subsequently captured, tortured and executed. In 1944 she parachuted back into France and fought with the resistance until the end of WWII.

After the war she returned to Australia, remarried and in 1985 published her autobiography titled "The White Mouse". Her husband of 40 years, John Forward, passed away in 1997 and she returned to England where she died at the age of 98 years in 2007.

Answer: Business

Anita Roddick (1942-2007) was a British businesswoman and is best known as the founder of The Body Shop. She was also an environmental campaigner. The Body Shop is a cosmetics company which produces natural beauty products. Anita opened the first shop in 1976 and by 2004 there were 1980 stores worldwide.

In 2006 L'Oréal purchased the company for £652 million. In 2003 Anita Roddick was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Born Anita Lucia Perella she married Gordon Roddick in 1970. Sadly, she passed away in 2007; she was survived by her husband Gordon and two children, Justine and Sam.