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Category
Era
7 figures
Nelson Mandela
1918 – 2013Twenty-seven years in prison, then negotiated the end of apartheid without civil war.
South Africa·Peace · Philosophy · LiteratureNobelFull profile
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
b. 1938Africa's first elected woman head of state; rebuilt post-war Liberia.
Liberia·Peace · EconomicsNobel
Kofi Annan
1938 – 2018UN Secretary-General who put human security at the centre of the organisation.
Ghana·PeaceNobel
Wangari Maathai
1940 – 2011Green Belt Movement founder; 51 million trees and a democracy campaign.
Kenya·Peace · BiologyNobel
Denis Mukwege
b. 1955Surgeon who has treated tens of thousands of survivors of wartime sexual violence.
DR Congo·Medicine · PeaceNobel
Leymah Gbowee
b. 1972Led the women's movement that ended Liberia's civil war.
Liberia·PeaceNobel
Abiy Ahmed
b. 1976Negotiated the Eritrea peace accord; later a contested wartime leader.
Ethiopia·PeaceNobel