Gbowee, Leymah, << BOH wee, LAY muh >> (1972-…), is a Liberian activist who received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. She won the award for her efforts to encourage women to become active in politics. During the final years of Liberia’s civil war (1989-2003), she organized women from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds to form antiwar protests. Gbowee shared the 2011 prize with the Liberian political leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman.
In the early stages of Liberia’s civil war, Gbowee worked as a counselor to help women and children affected by violence. In 2002 and 2003, she rallied women, both Christian and Muslim, to pressure Liberian President Charles Taylor to end the war. She led thousands of women in prayer meetings, marches, and protests.
In 2006, Gbowee began serving as a consultant for the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa). She helped the organization promote the participation of women in peace, security, and reconciliation efforts throughout Africa. In July 2007, she was appointed executive director of WIPSEN-Africa.
Leymah Roberta Gbowee was born in a village in central Liberia in 1972. After high school, she planned to study medicine, but the outbreak of the civil war interrupted her education. In 2007, she earned a Master of Arts degree in conflict transformation from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She wrote an account of her experiences during the war, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (2011).
