“You [Italy] want other countries to see Ethiopia as your protégé, but that will never be.” 793: Taytu Betul Empress of Ethiopia Born: c.1851, Begemder Province, Ethiopia Died: 11 February 1918, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Taytu is also remembered for founding Addis Ababa. Taytu means Sun in the Amharic language, and she definitely brought the sunshine…
791: Nitocris Last Pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty Unknown Birth Date, Ancient Egypt Died: c.2181 BC, Ancient Egypt Also Spelled: Nitiqret or Nicaule Her reign ended the period of Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom. Nitocris is mentioned in Herodotus’s Histories. However, some scholars believe her story is nothing more than that, a story….
790: Khutulun Wrestler and Great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan Born: c.1260, Mongol Empire (Present-day Much of Central Asia)* Died: 1306, Mongol Empire (Present-day Much of Central Asia) Also Known As: Aigiarne, Aiyurug, or Khotol Tsagaan Khutulun’s father and uncle started a thirty-year civil war over control of how the Mongol Empire should be run. Her father…
789: Te Puea Hērangi Māori Leader Known as Princess Te Puea Born: 9 November 1883, Whatiwhatihoe, Waikato District, New Zealand Died: 12 October 1952, Ngaruawahia, New Zealand Full Name: Te Kirihaehae Te Puea Hērangi Te Puea’s family was literally royalty as she was descended from the first Maori King and helped three successive kingships in…
“It hurts me to see my son die, but I cannot lose my people.” 782: Kurmanjan Datka United Kyrgyzstan as a Country Born: 22 May 1811, Pamir-Alay Mountains (Present-day Kyrgyzstan) Died: 1 February 1907, Osh, Kyrgyzstan After running away from an arranged marriage when she was eighteen, Kurmanjan later married a local feudal leader for…
780: Yennenga Mother of the Mossi People Born: Early 12th to 15th Century AD, Kingdom of Dagomba (Present-day Republic of Ghana) Died: Early 12th to 15th Century AD Also Known As: Yalanga or Poko The Mossi hail from present-day Burkina Faso and most of what we know of Yennenga comes from the Mossi people’s oral…
769: Shajar al-Durr Female Sultan Born: c.1220 AD, Present-day Armenia* Died: 1257 AD, Present-day Cairo, Egypt Alternate Spelling: Shajarat al-Durr Royal Name: al-Malika ʿAṣmat ad-Dīn ʾUmm-Khalīl Shajar ad-Durr Shajar was the first woman in Islamic Egyptian History to become a Monarch (the second Muslim woman overall) and the first woman to rule Egypt since Cleopatra…
“I will not marry the pig snout!” 765: Sophia Dorothea of Celle Royalty Really Isn’t All Its Cracked Up to Be Born: 15 September 1666, Present-day Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany Died:13 November 1726, Present-day Ahlden, Lower Saxony, Germany Alternate Spelling: Sophie Dorothea Sophia was a princess (or more accurately duchess, but in this case the…
764: Julia the Elder Daughter of Rome’s First Emperor Augustus Born: 30 October 39 BC, Rome, Roman Empire (Present-day Rome, Italy) Died: 14 AD, Rhegium, Roman Empire (Present-day Reggio Calabria, Italy) Also Known As: Julia Ceasaris filia or Julia Augusti filia Julia was his only biological child, and unfortunately her parents divorced when Julia was…
763: Julia Drusilla the Younger Caligula’s Daughter and Only Legitimate Child Born: 39 CE, Rome, Roman Empire (Present-day Rome, Italy) Died: 24 January 41 CE, Rome, Roman Empire (Present-day Rome, Italy) Julia was named after her aunt and Caligula’s favorite sister of the same name. Julia was assassinated alongside her parents because she was Caligula’s…