| Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was born in | | | | Their motto was 'Deeds not Words'. The group |
| Manchester to a politically active family. She was | | | | quickly became notorious with violent incidents of |
| responsible for the suffragette movement in | | | | political activism such as smashing windows, for |
| Britain which eventually in 1918 won for women in | | | | which Emmeline and her colleagues were |
| the right to vote - albeit for women over the age | | | | incarcerated on several occasions. Whilst in prison |
| of 30. Emmeline's mother Sophia came from the | | | | they continued to remain in the public eye with |
| Isle of Man the first country to have accorded | | | | hunger strikes but were often brutally force-fed. |
| women the right to vote as far back as 1881. | | | | With its policy of continued arson, prominent |
| Perhaps it was from her mother that Emmeline | | | | members of the WSPU left the organization |
| inherited a sense of political awareness. Her | | | | including two of Emmeline's daughters. |
| parents played host to several dissident | | | | At the outbreak of World War I Emmeline called |
| international political figures who had a significant | | | | an immediate cessation of political activism to |
| influence on Emmeline's future outlook. | | | | fight what she called the 'German Peril'. They |
| Emmeline studied at the Ecole Normale de Neuilly | | | | encouraged men to join the forces and women |
| in Paris. At the age of 20 she met and Richard | | | | to play their part for the war effort. Later they |
| Pankhurst, a barrister 24 years her senior and a | | | | campaigned vigorously against according Germany |
| supporter of women's right to vote. They had | | | | any peace concessions. |
| five children over the next 10 years. Emmeline | | | | In 1917, Emmeline Pankhurst visited Russia where |
| had no wish to be domesticated and the children | | | | she exhorted the Russian people to continue their |
| were left in the care of a governess. | | | | fight for justice. But after meeting the Bolshevists |
| With Richard's support, she actively involved | | | | she became disillusioned with leftist politics. |
| herself in social affairs. Emmeline joined the | | | | In 1926, Emmeline Pankhurst joined the |
| Women's Franchise League and later tried to join | | | | Conservative party. Two years later she stood |
| the Independent Labour Party which declined her | | | | for election from Whitechapel, but her campaign |
| application on grounds of gender. Later she | | | | was forestalled by ill-health. Years of militancy, |
| founded the Women's Social and Political Union | | | | incarceration, touring and campaigning had taken |
| (WSPU) an all-women's organization dedicated to | | | | its toll. In June of 1928 she died at the age of 70. |
| militantly fighting for the women's right to vote. | | | | |