Friday, March 7, 2014

Listography: 5 Inspirational Women

In honour of International Women's Day tomorrow (8th March) this week's Listography is 5 Inspirational Women.

1. Henrietta Szold 1860 - 1945 (I wrote about her and my direct connection to her here.)


2. Candi O'Reilly who blogs at Looking For Blue Sky. You can find her here. I could write more but I want you to read her own words.

3. Meryl Streep. She's achieved the greatest accolades in the film industry, she's a skilled and versatile actress, she's kept her family out of the media, she's always conducted herself with the utmost integrity and dignity, she supports causes with intelligence and discretion, she's not self obsessed with her own beauty, ..... Is that enough?

4. J.K. Rowling (who doesn't look dissimilar to Meryl Streep). Also for her dignity and intelligence, common sense and humility, and for sitting down and doing what so many of us dreamed of but never managed to get started.
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5. Irena Sendler 1910 - 2008

Irena Sendler is one of the 24,811 Righteous Among The Nations honoured at Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Memorial Museum) in Jerusalem. Irena helped to smuggle 2,500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and furnish them with false identity papers.

Irena's story spoke to me because my mother's family left Warsaw for London in the 1880s. If they'd not had the get up and go to get up and go, those children could have been my mother and her brother. However, I could have chosen any one of the thousands of women who put their own lives at risk to save Jews from Hitler during the Second World War. You can read more stories here.

Linking up with  Listography at Kate Takes 5.

10 comments:

  1. Now I'm really mortified! When you tweeted me I assumed you were suggesting I took part in this, and I have indeed started a list, but I could never have anticipated seeing my name here...I'm just one of many millions of parents in similar situations xx

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    1. I know but you are the one I know and you are the one that I find inspirational. xxx

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  2. Great list - I love Candi and her blog too x

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  3. Great list. I love Candi and her blog too x

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  4. Definitely inspirational women and I have now discovered another great blog to read!

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  5. Marvellous list - great to see inspiration and I often think of JK eking our her coffees when I am failing to write due to some excuse or other. I am thrilled that we both picked Irena - and of course you are right - so many others. I am reading An Interrupted Life: the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum this month - such poignant insights. Really glad to find your blog - I have just returned from expat life!

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    1. I am fascinated by that whole WWll experience and the older I get the deeper the horror of it all.

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  6. Lovely List, will read Candi's blog later ( I have it bookmarked now) x

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  7. So wonderful to see Candi in there - and JK Rowling is a great choice. And sorry I'm late!

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    1. Thanks Kate - although you have written the novel, you just need to get it published.

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