Africa
Amina, Queen of Zazzua
A profile of Amina, Queen of Zazzua, who extended the territory of her people as a warrior queen.
Dian Fossey
Dian Fossey's studies of mountain gorillas have helped science to better understand ape behavior, and may have preserved the gorillas from extinction.
Jane Goodall
Originally brought to Africa to work with Louis Leakey, Jane Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve in 1970. By close observation, she documented the social organization of chimps in the wild.
Wangari Maathai
Kenya's environmentalist and feminist activist, Wangari Maathai, battled deforestation in Kenya through organizing mostly village women to plant trees, to fight soil erosion and water pollution and to provide firewood and some income for their families.
Anna Nzinga
A profile of Anna Nzinga, warrior queen in what is today Angola, who led a resistance campaign against the Portuguese and against slave trading.
Mary Henrietta Kingsley
Alistair Boddy-Evans, About Guide to African History, writes about "the most unlikely of African explorers."
African Literature: Bibliography of Anglophone Women Writers
A list of Afridan women writers and their works in English. The links on the page for individual women aren't working, but the book lists may be very helpful.
Ama Ata Aidoo
BBC World Service feature on women writers highlights Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana: her life events, key influences and themes, the works of this author, her style, and her thoughts on being a woman writer.
Charlayne in Africa
Hunter-Gault's reflections on her life in Africa since 1997, written for the University of Georgia magazine, Up Front.
Buchi Emecheta
BBC World Service feature on women writers highlights Buchi Emecheta of Nigeria: her life events, key influences and themes, the works of this author, her style, and her thoughts on being a woman writer.
Female Circumcision Comes to America
1995 Atlantic Monthly article on the importation of this African custom among immigrant women in America.
Francophone African Women Writers
A site from Western Australia documenting African women writers who wrote in French. The site itself is in the French language, and includes assorted biographies, bibliographies and summaries and lists of these women writers' works.
Idia: The First Queen Mother of Benin
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) presents images and a background article on a 15th century queen mother of importance in what is now Nigeria.
Doris Lessing
BBC World Service feature on women writers highlights Doris Lessing, whose work was published after she moved to England, was born in Iran (then Persia), and grew up and married in Rhodesia: her life events, key influences and themes, the works of this author, her style, and her thoughts on being a woman writer.
Lives and Deaths of an Ethiopian Midwife
Washington Post 1997 feature detailing the life and work of an Ethiopian midwife, highlighting the reality of life for women in this corner of Africa.
Makeda, Queen of Sheba
Tracy Marks presents her story of the Queen of Sheba, including an extensive set of links and a bibliography.
Mamphela Ramphele Interview
Charlayne Hunter-Gault interviews (1997) Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Capetown, a founder with Stephen Biko of the Black Consciousness movement in 1969, and mother of Biko's son.
Queen Mothers
Find images of queen mothers, and a short discussion of their importance, in African cultures, from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Roberts, Jane: Daguerrotype
Jane Roberts was a leader in the resettlement of Afro-Americans in Liberia. Her husband, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, became President of Liberia.
The Struggle of Queenmothers (Queen Mothers) for Equality in Ghana
In Ghana, traditional women leaders -- queen mothers or queenmothers -- have been excluded from modern governance. This article discusses some of the cultural history, and the implications of this exclusion especially for health.
Wedded to Tradition: Marriage at Puberty
Washington Post 1997 feature, focusing on the lives of child brides in the Ivory Coast.