Eleanor Roosevelt, USA (1884-1962)
First Lady and humanitarian; born in New York City. During World War I she worked for the Red Cross. After her husband, president Franklin D. Roosevelt, had a polio attack that resulted in paralysis in 1921, she took an ever more active role on his behalf in New York State politics. She emerged as a public figure, travelling throughout the country, promoting her causes - particularly those helping women, children, and the poor - giving radio broadcasts, and writing a syndicated column, "My Day" (starting in 1935).
Although both ridiculed and disliked by some, she continued to speak out even when her views - such as those on racial discrimination - put her well in advance of her husband. During World War II she travelled abroad to visit U.S. servicemen, and following the death of Franklin (1945), she embarked on a new career, serving as a delegate to the UN General Assembly (1945-51), and serving as chairperson of the UN's Human Rights Commission (1946-51) that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy reappointed her to the U.S. delegation to the UN. She also chaired the Kennedy administration's Commission on the Status of Women.