Theresa Kachindamoto
SENIOR CHIEF (1959 - present)
After 27 years working as s a secretary at a
city college in Zomba, a district in Southern
Malawi, Theresa Kachindamoto become a
senior chief to the more than 900,000 people.
The common response to her wanting to stop
child marriages was that she had no right to
overturn tradition, nor, as the mother of five
boys, to lecture others on the upbringing of
girls. Unable to change the traditionally set
mentality of parents, Kachindamoto instead
changed the law, abolishing early marriage
under customary law and annulling any
existing unions in her area of authority. When
she learned that child marriages were still
taking place in some areas, she fired the four
male chiefs responsible for these areas.
Kachindamoto has anulled more than 3,500
marriages, and sent all of the children
involved back to school.
Beatrice Webb
SOCIAL SCIENCE (1858 - 1943)
An English sociologist, economist, labour
historian and social reformer, she coined the
term "collective bargaining", was among the
founders of the London School of Economics
and played a crucial role in forming the Fabian
Society which focused on promoting
democratic socialism. In 1931 the British
Academy elected her as the first female
fellow. She was instrumental in sketching out
the welfare state and creating the London
School of Economics and Political Science.
The aim of the school was to educate critical
economists, who would bring benefits to the
whole country. She influenced the creation of
the British Labour Party, laying the
foundations of democratic socialism, still
present today. She played an important role in
the dismantling of the old Law of the Poor and
replacing it with new social security systems.
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