Women Who Won
Did you know that Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the first woman in the world to become a democratically elected prime minister? That Tina Anselmi was a wartime resistance fighter who became the first woman to serve as a cabinet minister in Italy? Or that Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi was the first woman to serve as a prime minister in Africa? It is high time these extraordinary women who helped shape our world became household names, and this book brings them at last to the fore.
Women Who Won is a celebration of 70 women from the last 100 years: politicians from around the globe who fought for election in a man’s world… and won. Beautifully illustrated by artist Emmy Lupin, it features well-known figures, including Kamala Harris, Benazir Bhutto, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Jacinda Ardern and Julia Gillard, alongside lesser-known women whose stories are ready to be heard:
- Shidzue Katō, one of the first women elected to the Diet of Japan
- Yulia Tymoshenko, the first woman prime minister of Ukraine
- Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the US Congress
- Peri-Khan Sofieva, the first democratically elected Muslim woman
- Ethel Blondin-Andrew, the first Indigenous woman elected to Canadian parliament
Women of the past, but also women of the present and future. Women who smashed the political glass ceiling. Women who fought to leave a positive legacy for future generations. Women who paved the way for girls of today to become women who won.
Ros Ball is an author and former BBC broadcast journalist who worked for many years on politics in Westminster. In 2017 she published The Gender Agenda, a first-hand account of how boys and girls are treated differently. She currently works on equalities policy for women and girls. @rosball
Emmy Lupin is a freelance illustrator from Nottingham, based in London. Specialising in digital illustration that’s big on pattern and colour, Emmy’s work is inspired by looking at life through a female lens. She has been commissioned by the likes of Adidas, TikTok, Stylist Magazine and SEGA, to name a few. @emmylupinstudio