Emmeline Pankhurst, seated (1913)
Emmeline Pankhurst(1858-1928)
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.
Born in Moss Side, Manchester, to politically active parents, Pankhurst was introduced at the age of 14 to the women's suffrage movement. On 18 December 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a barrister 24 years older than she, known for supporting women's rights to vote; they had five children over the next ten years.
In 1903, five years after her husband died, Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to "deeds, not words". The group became known for physical confrontations: its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers.
She died on 14 June 1928, only weeks before the Conservative government extended the vote to all women over 21. She was commemorated two years later with a statue in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament.
Born in Moss Side, Manchester, to politically active parents, Pankhurst was introduced at the age of 14 to the women's suffrage movement. On 18 December 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a barrister 24 years older than she, known for supporting women's rights to vote; they had five children over the next ten years.
In 1903, five years after her husband died, Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to "deeds, not words". The group became known for physical confrontations: its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers.
She died on 14 June 1928, only weeks before the Conservative government extended the vote to all women over 21. She was commemorated two years later with a statue in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament.
Emmeline Pankhurst adapted from Wikipedia and licensed by The Cultural Me under CC BY SA 3.0