Women Rulers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cleopatra

Made world famous by Hollywood, Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C. of Macedonian, Persian, and Greek lineage. Designated by Mark Antony as the Queen of Queens until Octavian Caesar would have no more of it. He invaded Egypt and dethroned both Antony and Cleopatra.

Answer: Boudicca

Born around 26 A.D, she was tall and had a commanding presence, with what was described as a harsh voice. She ruled over the Icenii after the death of her husband, only to have her kingdom seized by the Romans. She was publicly flogged and made to watch her daughters raped by legionnaires.

When the Roman Governor Paulinus was away she organized a determined revolt against the Romans and was successful at first, defeating the Roman Ninth Legion. But unsurprisingly the Romans later retaliated, bringing in more troops and defeating the Britons. Boudicca, certain that she would be executed if caught by the Romans, committed suicide circa 60 A.D.

Answer: Hatshepsut

She became the ruler of Egypt after her husband and half brother Thutmose II died around 1504 B.C. A very able and effective monarch she concentrated on economic and commercial matters. Unlike previous Egyptian rulers who concerned themselves mainly with military conquests. During her reign many monuments and edifices were constructed throughout her domain. Egyptologists give various dates as to when she died, some as early as 1484 B.C. and as late as 1458 B.C.

Answer: Elizabeth I

Born in 1533 the daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. She started her reign in the year 1558 until her death in 1603. The last monarch of England's Tudor dynasty. She was very popular amongst the people and her stirring speech to the vastly outnumbered English Navy, inspired those sailors to inflict a costly defeat upon the mighty Spanish Armada.

By the time of her death England was on the verge of becoming a world power. She is considered to be one of England's, as well as one of history's, greatest monarchs.

Answer: Mary Stuart

Mary, Queen of Scots was sent to live in France, to keep her away from Henry VIII King of England. She just could not make good choices and in the end her cousin Elizabeth I Queen of England had her executed after knowing of Mary's involvement to assassinate her.

Answer: Hinematioro

Pronounced Hee-nay-mah-tee-oh-roh, unlike other Maori tribes that migrated to Aotearoa (New Zealand) the Ngati Porou have kept most of their ancestral lands and "mana"-prestige and power-that comes with them. What is known of Hinematioro is what is carved on her 100 foot long war canoe. She was known for her great beauty, renowned for her kindness, hospitality, and was of good management. She oversaw the redistribution of wealth for all of her subjects.

Besides being the name of a soccer player, the name Pele is the name of the mythical Hawaiian volcano goddess. Ka'iulani(kah-eeyou-lah-nee) was a real person a Princess of Hawaiian and Scottish ancestry(her father was a Scot born in Edinburgh)born and raised in Hawaii and educated in Britain. She died too young at the age of 23. Ka'ahumanu was the wife of the first King to unite all the Hawaiian Islands Kamehameha I.

Answer: Lili'iuokalani

Ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1891-1895. Overthrown by American colonists who were a small minority in Hawaii, led by Sanford Dole who enlisted the help of the American Navy and the Marines. The American military was there to support American economic interests only.

She appealed to President Grover Cleveland for reinstatement, but Dole defied the president's orders and created a republic of his own. Without having a voice in what was happening to their islands, the people of the Kingdom of Hawaii could only look on as the islands were formally transferred to the United States.

The original inhabitants being relegated to a lesser role in the new republic's politics mainly because the Hawaiian language was given a back seat to the English language. Whether they wanted to or not, the kanaka maoli (native people) became American, a people soon to become strangers in their own land. Lili'iuokalani died in 1917.

Answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike

She became prime minister in 1959 after the death of her husband. Try as she may the problems that exist today in Sri Lanka were the same problems that Bandaranaike tried to tackle during her tenure. The majority of the population is Sinhalese, the minority are the Tamil, who are Indian in origin. The latter have actively been trying to form a separate state on Sri Lanka.

Answer: Pakistan

Educated at Radcliffe and later Oxford where she was elected president of the Oxford Union. In 1979 her father was ousted as the leader of Pakistan, where he was dragged away in front of his family, to be presented in a court rigged by the very man who overthrew her father.

This court sentenced Ali Bhutto to be hanged. His wife and his daughter (Benazir) were imprisoned and mistreated. Benazir was sent to London for medical treatment and it was there that she organized opposition to the Pakistan government of Zia ul-Haq.

Her People's party won the election of 1988 and she was sworn in as the world's second Moslem woman leader. She lost her leadership in 1990.

Answer: Indira Gandhi

Daughter of Jawaharwal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Oxford educated she joined the National Congress Party at the age of 21. In 1959 she was elected president of the Congress Party, the second highest political position in India. With the death of prime minister Shastri, Indira Gandhi became prime minister in 1966.

She held that position until the next election in 1967. It was in 1967 that she was elected prime minister of the world's largest democracy. Under her leadership India exploded its first nuclear weapon and sent into orbit its first satellite.

She was called in India "Mataji" or "respected mother". She was finally voted out in 1977 only to be voted back in again in 1979. In 1984 after putting restraints on personal freedoms and ordering an attack against a Sikh temple she was assassinated.

She was the most powerful woman India has ever known.

Answer: Golda Meir

Born in Kiev, Russia her family migrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1906. She was a signer of Israel's Proclamation of Independence in 1948. In 1949 she was elected to the legislature and served for 25 years. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, called her "the only man in the cabinet".

In 1969 she became Israel's fourth prime minister. She was forced to resign in 1974 and passed away in 1978 at the age of 80.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

Another of the Oxford-educated women of the world. She received a BSc in Chemistry and an MA in law, specializing in taxation. She became Britain's longest continuously-serving prime minister and the longest-serving leader in all of Western Europe.

Answer: Mary Robinson

Born in 1945 and educated at Harvard Law School. She practiced law, was a law professor and became a senator by the age of 25. She was sworn into office on December 3, 1990.

Answer: Isabel Peron

She married Juan Peron, she 30 years old and he 65. The third wife of Peron, after Peron's second and extremely popular wife Evita (Eva) Peron. Came to power in 1974 after the death of her husband only to be overthrown in 1976.

Answer: Violeta Chamorro

She was one of five members of the revolutionary Sandinistas who brought Daniel Ortega into power. In 1990 she became the first woman to be elected president of a nation in the western hemisphere.