Born as Ishibashi Junko on September 22, 1939, in Miharu, Japan, Junko Tabei was the first woman to reach the summit of the world’s tallest mountain – Mount Everest. Tabei reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 16, 1975, as the leader of an all-female Japanese climbing party. In 1992, she went on to become the first woman to ascend all the Seven Summits which involves climbing the tallest peak on each of the seven continents. Tabei continued climbing even after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2012.
Tabei led the way for the women who climbed Everest after her and those who aspire to do so. Bachendri Pal is the first woman from India to summit Everest in 1984.
“Everest for me, and I believe for the world, is the physical and symbolic manifestation of overcoming odds to achieve a dream.”
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Born on January 3, 1831 in Naigon, Maharashtra, Savitribai Phule is regarded as the first female teacher of India. Along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, Savitribai played an important role in improving women’s rights in India and founded the first girls’ school at Bhide Wada, Pune in 1848.
She helped put education on the priority list for women in India and inspired several educationists in the country.
“The lack of learning is nothing but gross bestiality. It is through the acquisition of knowledge that (he) loses his lower status and achieves the higher one.”
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Wednesday, July 8. 2020
Born on May 12, 1977, in Tehran, Iran, Maryam Mirzakhani was the first and the only woman to win the Fields Medal, the prestigious award in the field of mathematics. She won the award on August 13, 2014, for her work on the dynamics and geometery of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces. Mirzakhani was also the first Iranian to be honoured with the Medal. She was a professor of Mathematics at Stanford University before her untimely death due to breast cancer.
Women can achieve feats in the field of mathematics as well. Her achievement continues to inspire several young women to pursue a career in mathematics.
“I find it fascinating that you can look at the same problem from different perspectives and approach it using different methods.”
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