The January 6th and 13th episodes of
Genesis featured a retrospective of important deaths that marked the 2009 year. All of the information gathered came from Wikipedia, and women were chosen based on their geography, their contribution to their field of work, or for the unique circumstances surrounding their deaths. The January 6th episode dealt primarily with January to June 2009, where the second episode on the 13th looked at the period from July to December 2009. Click on the names below to be directed to more detailed profiles.
January 2009-
Anastasia Eduardivna: Journalist who investigated neo-Nazi activities, environmental issues and human rights in Russia.
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Helen Mamayaok Maksagak: First woman and first Inuk to act as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.
February 2009-
Alison Des Forges: African historian and human rights activist who specialized in covering the Rwandan Genocide.
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Myrtle "Molly" Kool: North America's first registered female sea captain
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Beverly Eckert: Activist and advocate for the creation of the 9/11 Commission and 9/11 Memorial.
March 2009-
Ann Marie Rogers: British campaigner who fought a landmark court battle to receive the breast cancer drug Herceptin on the National Health Service.
April 2009-
Sitara Achakzai: Afghan women's rights activist and member of the regional parliament in Kandhar.
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Judith Fingeret Krug: Librarian and anti-censorship activist who co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.
May 2009-
Maria Amelia Lopez Solino: Spanish woman who was the oldest-known female blogger at the time of her death.
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Virgina Prince: Transgender activist who published
Transvestia Magazine.
June 2009-
Sylvia Levin: Civic and voter registration activist who hold the nationwide record for registering 47,000 Californian voters in a 36 year span.
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Neda Agha-Soltan: Demonstrator killed during 2009 Iranian election protests.
July 2009-
Susan Fernandez Magno: Filipino folk singer, activist and academic who was hailed as "the voice of a protest generation" during the Macros regime in the '80s.
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Marwa Ali El-Sherbini: Egyptian native living in Germany who was murdered in a court hearing where she testified against a man who verbally abused her for wearing an Islamic headscarf.
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Barbara Ann "Bobbie" Margolis: American prisoner's rights activist who established the Fresh Start program to provide inmates with culinary training.
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Natalya Khusainovna Estemirova: Award winning Russian human rights activist who was assassinated for her political work.
August 2009-
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich: American pop singer, songwriter and record producer who co-wrote the hits "Be My Baby", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack" and much more.
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Anne L. Wexler: Influential Democratic political consultant who was the first woman to head a leading lobbying firm in Washington.
September 2009-
Gertrude E. Noone: Oldest American military veteran in the world.
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Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson: Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher who wrote many books about birds, botany, genealogy and history without any formal training in the aforementioned fields.
October 2009-
Chonira Belliappa Muthamma: First woman to sit in the Indian Civil Services examinations in 1948 and the Indian Foreign Service in 1949.
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Donna Mae Mims: American race car driver who was the first woman to win a Sports Car Club of America national championship.
November 2009-
Nien Cheng: Chinese author who chronicled her experiences while imprisoned by Maoist revolutionaries in her book
Life and Death in Shanghai.
December 2009 -
Ann Louise Nixon Cooper: Noted Atlanta civil rights activist who was mentioned in Barack Obama's November 2008 election speech.
