Female Historic Names

Alice Walker, a renowned novelist and poet, is famous for her works that depict the struggles and trials of African-Americans, especially the plight of women. In her novels, stories and poetry, she emphasizes the concept of the existing racial prejudice that whites have for blacks. She even discerned the idea that there's discrimination within the spirited black Americans themselves. In her novel, The Color Purple, she narrated the story of a woman who is molested and raped by people belonging to the same race as the woman's. Her novel stirred a lot of controversies and issues, and even angered the black community. In fact, Africa- Americans said that Alice Walker is a racist since she writes negative things about her race. This pained Alice very much since she is no racist. She just wants to speak the truth.

African-American writer and feminist, Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia in the United States on February 9, 1944. She is known for her Pulitzer award winning novel, The Color Purple. At an early age, she was blinded by her brothers temporarily for shooting her eye with a toy gun. Walker is also famous for admitting that she is a lesbian. Some of her works like The Color Purple have female homosexual themes. Her other novel, Possessing the Secret of Joy, tells us about the African ritual of castrating girls so as not to enjoy sex. Alice Walker has contributed a lot of literary works and ideas to help us understand better the situations of African-American women.

The African-Americans and Jews have one thing in common -- they both experience racial discrimination in the hands of people who treat them as "others". Although race is based on skin color of the person, it is a major factor in how a person treats another individual. Admittedly, Sometimes, there are cases when we become guilty of the crimes we attribute to others; just like what's happening with the Jews right now. They think that they're the victims when, in fact, they are also discriminating other people. I understand that they have experienced suffering and pain ever since biblical times, but that doesn't mean that they have the right to treat people outside their race like enemies.

It was in 1904 in the Japanese town of Nagasaki. A 15 year old Japanese girl named Butterfly had her whole family beset in poverty. She meets Pinkerton, an American naval officer stationed in Japan. Butterfly sacrificed all her ties with the Japanese way of life only to marry Pinkerton, but he leaves for the United States. However, he promised to come back for her. Unfortunately, he comes back three years later married to an American woman. In disgrace, Butterfly stabs herself; the officer begs her forgiveness, and she dies in his arms. This simple plot provides the vehicle for the areas of love and loss as well as hope and despair as of one of the most well-loved opera in history.

This is the tragic story of Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly), an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It was based on a short story by John Luther Long which that was made into a play by David Belasco. The first version of the opera, which was comprised of two acts, premiered February 17, 1904 at La Scala in Milan. After four months, it was re-released in Brescia. The revision split the disproportionately long second act in half and included some other minor changes. The story became a picture of colonialism throughout the 20th century.

She was one of the earliest comedienne in American entertainment. Fanny Brice was a stage performer during the early part of the twentieth century and have made her marked in the entertainment industry. Born as Fania Borach on October 29, 1891 in New York, Fanny was the third child of relatively well-off saloon owners of Hungarian Jewish decent. After dropping out of school she worked in a burlesque review and made a career in theater and radio as an actress and a singer. She recorded two dozen phonograph records such as "Second Hand Rose" and "My Man" which became her signature songs.

Fanny crossed-over from stage to screen and made films like "My Man" (1928), "Be Yourself!" (1930), "Everybody Sing" (1938) (with Judy Garland), "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936), and 1946's "Ziegfeld Follies." Fanny also had her own radio show which featured her as a bratty toddler named "Baby Snooks," a role she first premiered in a Follies' skit. She died in 1951 of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 59. Fanny Brice was given a posthumous Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man" and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at MP 6415 Hollywood Blvd for her contribution to the motion picture industry. Babra Streisand portrayed her life in the 1964 semi-biographical musical Funny Girl which was adapted to film in 1968 which gave Streisand a Best Actress Oscar.

Television dramas have showed us the best female characters throughout the years. In the 70s, Mary Tyler Moore became the face of every single career woman with just the right blend of vulnerability. In the 80s, Molly Dodd became known by being tongue-tied and indecisive at loose ends when it came to men. By the late 90s come Ally McBeal showed us her adorable insecurity and the funny side of being a single girl.

A dramedy created by David E. Kelly, actress Calista Flockhart brings to life the title character as a young lawyer working in a fictional Boston law firm named Cage & Fish, filled with similarly young lawyers whose lives and loves are tragi-comic. The show won numerous recognition through its five season run and a Golden Globe Best Actress Award for Flockhart in 1998.

Ally McBeal is the lovely mixture of strength and delicacy, not to mention, quirkiness, too. The glossy commercial and appeals very much to the sisterly feelings of female consumers. But what the show is mainly driving at is a male fantasy of feminism where women are independent and strong -- obviously within the bounds of reason -- and the foxy look counts for the bulk of the total grade.

She is the epitome of non-violent struggle in our modern times, as she was heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but was unable to accept the award because of her detention. A devout Buddhist, she is a pro-democratic activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma).

Her father was assassinated after negotiating Burma's independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. After studying in English Catholic schools in Burma, she took up a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at St. Hugh's College Oxford University. She returned to Burma in 1988 when the country went under the rule of a military junta. Aung San Suu Kyi helped in forming the National League for Democracy and she was placed under house arrest. The party unanimously won the 1990 elections and she was about to assume the office of Prime Minister, but the junta ignored the results and refused to hand over the power. There were pressures from international groups and even the United Nations over the junta to release her, but Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest under the 1975 State Protection Act (Article 10 b) granting the government the power to imprison persons for up to five years without a trial.

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen was born on November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria as the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa, Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. She was brought up believing her destiny was to become queen of France. Marie Antoinette married the crowned prince of France in 1770, and four years later she became queen when her husband was crowned as King Louis XVI (House of Bourbon).

The stories of Antoinette's lavishness are vastly overstated and she went down in history as a shallow, self-indulgent, and stupid queen. What most people don't know was that rather than ignoring France's growing financial crisis, she reduced the royal household staff and eliminated many unnecessary positions that were based solely on privilege. This offended the nobles, adding their condemnation to the rumors spread by royal hopefuls. She was most remembered in the scandal that history books called "the affair of the necklace" which led to the fall of the royalty. King Louis XVI was tried for treason and was executed. Also charged with treason, Marie Antoinette met her demise on the guillotine at the height of the French Revolution in 1793.

Sophia Coppola, Oscar-winning director of Lost In Translation and daughter of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, made a bio-film about the queen with Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman) as the title role.

Virginia Woolf is a world-famous novelist, also distinguished feminist essayist, critic, and a central figure in the English literature. She served as the voice during the time when women played very little part in the society at the same time establishing herself as one of the leading writers of modernism.

Virginia Woolf was born on January 25, 1882 in London, England as the daughter of Julia Jackson Duckworth, a member of the Duckworth publishing family, and literary critic Leslie Stephen, a literary critic and who founded the Dictionary of National Biography. Woolf grew up at the family home at Hyde Park Gate and was educated at home by her father. She began writing for the Times Literary Supplement in 1905. She published her first book upon marrying political theorist Leonard Woolf in 1912. Her feminist views were very much expressed in her works like To The Lighthouse (1927), The Waves (1931) and Mrs Dalloway (1925).

Throughout her life, Woolf suffered severe mental breakdown brought upon by the series of death in her family. Her mother died when she was in her early teens, her half sister died two years later, her father suffered a slow death from cancer, and her brother Toby died in 1906. Her mental illness took its final toll on her on March 28, 1941 when she filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the River Ouse near her Sussex home.

Throughout history, the world of espionage has never had a face like that of Mata Hari. The name too had been synonymous beauty, sensuality, and treachery. She had been portrayed on-screen by some of the most famous actress like Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Sylvia Kristel, and Jeanne Moreau.

She was born on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden, Holland to businessman Adam Zelle and Antje van der Meulen. She was baptized as Margaretha Zelle. She was the second child and the only girl in a family of four boys, and she was nicknamed M'greet.

Matahari literally means eye of dawn in Malayan. She dreamt for a new life, and she changed her name and worked as an exotic dancer. It was in this profession that she had affairs with several man, and at the age of 40, met the 25 year old Russian officer Vladmir Masloff in Paris. Then her life as a spy began by extracting information for the French intelligence. But due to a sudden twist of fate, her French handlers suspected her loyalty, after a series of rendezvous with several high-ranking German officers and later becoming a double agent. She was arrested and was charged with treason by the French authorities, and on October 15, 1917, was executed by firing squad.

If I am correct, almost all people who are in their early 30's have heard the name Evita Peron of Argentina. Her life was an encouragement for many women, especially to partners of political personalities. Her life was strength for the citizens of Argentina.

Born as Eva Maria Duarte in Argentina in 1919, Eva lived in a poor family. Eva did not attend to school, and worked in kitchens of wealthy families. She became an actress at 16 and also got a chance to work in radio programs. In 1945, she met and married Juan Peron, minister of War that time. Juan ran for presidency and he won the position.

As a First Lady, she established a foundation for poor people of Argentina. Eva advocated the education for women. She became a voice for deprived workers, too. Her love for people of Argentina was considered noble by every Argetina citizen. Her people called her Evita. The saddest moment for Argentina came when Evita was examined with cancer in 1950. She died on the following year. Evita is still loved by her people.

Who does not know Mother Teresa? When she was still alive, she was dubbed as the world's living saint. She earned the admiration and respect of people all over the world. She was a highly revered Catholic nun and considered as one of the most photographed woman in the world. She is an unforgettable woman in the world's and India's rich history.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she chose the name Teresa in honor of Saints Teresa of Avila and Therese of the Child Jesus. Mother Teresa's name entails various meanings. Apart from being a "living saint," she was also called "angel of mercy" and "saint of the gutter." Being a contemporary global saint, the name Mother Teresa and the words peace and love may have more or less the same connotations. Mother Teresa means revolution of love as manifested in her religious congregation, the Missionaries of Charity.

Her outstanding works of charity enveloped the whole world. She created networks of shelters for the homeless, nourished the sick, the hungry, and the thirsty, educated those who did not know anything but themselves. But, her failing health gradually deteriorated her missionary works, but when she succumbed to death, her spirit goes on and on. The world still feels her love and care. She was a great person worthy of emulation. She is a saint.

Like some movies she did, the life of Marilyn Monroe is like a movie, too. Her life consisted of rewards, fame, heartaches, and laughs. Marilyn engaged in three damaged marriages, and countless romantic affairs. The beauty of this actress became the sorrow of her soul.

Marilyn Monroe started her career as a model and then turned into a famous movie personality. She started to play a small part in the movie "Love Happy" and other supporting roles as a dumb blonde. In 1952, Marilyn Monroe's career soared high. She played in the movies "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "How to Marry A Millionaire", and other dramatic movies until she reached her stardom.

Her first husband was James Dougherty. Jim wanted Marilyn to be a plain house wife; taking care of the house and to have babies. But, Marilyn loved to be a model. And, the marriage has ended in a divorce with Jim. Then, during her celebrity career, she married Joe DiMaggio, a famous basketball player then. But, their union lasted for nine months only. Soon after her second divorce, she married playwriter author, Arthur Miller. Her marriage with Arthur did not last due to her pills and overuse of drugs. Apparently, Marilyn died due to over-dose of pills.

The famous Marcos' wealth is allegedly consisting of billions of dollars, gold bars, jewelry, and.... hmmm, a collection of lady's shoes. It was discovered that the former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos had a huge collections of lady's shoes. When the Marcoses were overthrown in 1986, the thousand pairs of shoes were discovered in one of the rooms at the Malacanang Palace.

Reportedly the former First Lady owned more than 3000 pairs of expensive shoes, the figure was denied by Mrs. Marcos, and stated that she only owned 1, 060 pairs of shoes. Most of them were products of Marikina, the Philippine's shoe capital. Hence, when these shoes were recovered, about 200 pairs of them were retrieved and displayed in Marikina City's shoe museum.

Mrs. Marcos has an 8 1/2 inches shoe size. She was claiming that having these pairs of shoes was not a symbol of living in luxurious life. She insisted that these controversial shoes were products of her appreciations to the Philippine-made footwear. The Guinness Book of World Records once recorded the Philippines as having a woman with largest collection of shoes. These shoes were owned by Mrs. Imelda Marcos.

There are just some names that emanates regal beauty and elegancy. Cleopatra is a name that does just that. Perhaps fueled by Hollywood's depiction of her a larger than life, Cleopatra is a name almost synonymous to beauty.

Ancient Egypt's last pharaoh was simply know to the world as Cleopatra. What the world doesn't know is that her proper name was Cleoptra VII, because her older sister was also named Cleopatra. Contrary to how the modern world percieves her, Cleopatra never more extravagant Egyptian costumes, except, perhaps on ceremonial occasions. Historians also say that the Queen of the Nile may be quite beautiful, she doesnt look anywhere near like her Hollywood image.

In the middle ages, women are told to stay at home and raise their children while men were the ones who are fighting the war. One woman was not bound by this rule set by her society. Joan D'arc claimed to receive visions from God telling her to reclaim his homeland. Joan was given permission by the then uncrowned King Charles VII the relieve the siege in Orleans where she impressed her commanders after she lifted the siege in nine days.

Throughout her careers she has gained achievements under her belt which earned her the approval of the town's people and common soldiers. She was found guilt of heresy and was burned in the stake. Until her last moments, she kept her strong faith in God. To this day, heroine Joan of Arc is seen as a woman of strength under the grace of God.

"Bloody" Mary Tudor, not to be confused with the ritual of seeing a ghost or a witch in mirror by chanting "Bloody Mary" five times, had a short reign as Queen of England, lasting only five years (1553-1558). Born to King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Mary ascended to power when a small fraction of Protestants were unsucessful in putting Lady Jane Grey on the throne. During Mary Tudors reign, she had more than 300 executed by burning at the stake for heresy, thus earning her the monicker "Bloody Mary."

Elizabeth is a name most girls have, most girls want, and most girls would still have. Why? The name has been around for ages that it's quite a historical name. The first Queen Elizabeth, has been one of the most famous monarchs since the beginning of time, up until now. She was one of the most successful monarchs in English history, as well as the whole world. She is still known and admired for her bravery and dedication to her country. Despite the many downfalls in her life as queen, she was determined to succeed, and she did, gracefully.

The public mourned for the loss of England's Princess Diana, she was truly the people's princess, she epitomized elegance, warmth and love, Diana was almost a saint, so to speak. Until now, she is greatly missed by the people, not just in England, but all around the world. The name Diana means Divine in Latin, it's a very beautiful and classic name. I suggest that if you're looking for a simple yet meaningful name, Diana is a great idea, Diana is divine, Diana was truly divine.