Betty Williams
(1943-)

Irish Peace Activist
1976 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

birthdate: May 22
birthplace:
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for founding the Community of Peace People, an Irish organization dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Betty Williams' life was changed when she witnessed the death of three Catholic girls who were caught in the middle of a clash with British authorities and an IRA fugitive. Deeply moved, Betty Williams gathered 6000 signatures for a petition for peace and organized a peace march of 10,000 Catholic and Protestant women, and then another march of 35,000 people a week later. These activities gained worldwide media attention. Together with Mairead Corrigan, the aunt of the three children who had been killed, she started Women For Peace, which eventually became The Community for Peace People to help end the violence in Northern Ireland. Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Betty Williams has continued to dedicate her life to making life better for the world's children. She is a frequent lecturer for peace, and is President of the World Centers of Compassion for Children International, and heads the Global Children's Foundation.

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