72. Gloria Steinem

Gloria Marie Steinem was born in 1934, the daughter of Ruth and Leo Steinem. She is an American feminist journalist and social political activist who became nationally recognised as a leader and a spokeswoman for the American feminist movement in the late 1960’s and 70/s

Her paternal grandmother was Pauline Perlmutter Steinem. She was chairwoman of the educational committee of the National Woman Suffrage Association and a delegate to the International council of Women. Pauline also rescued many members of her family from the Holocaust. The Steinems lived and travelled about in a trailer from which Leo plied his trade as a roaming antiques dealer.

In 1972 Gloria co-founded the feminist themed magazine Ms and 300,000 test copies sold out nationwide in 8 days. In that same year, Gloria was the first woman to address the National Press Club. She is still considered one of the world’s leading Feminists of today, campaigning in many areas of women’s health, equal pay and human rights.