She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for promoting conservation,
women's rights and transparent government - the first African woman to
get the award. She was elected as an MP in 2002 and served as a minister in the Kenyan government for a time.
Ms Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted 20-30 million trees in Africa.
"It is with great sadness that the family of Professor Wangari
Maathai announces her passing away on 25 September, 2011, at the
Nairobi Hospital, after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with
cancer," the Green Belt Movement said in a statement. "Her loved ones were with her at the time. "Professor Maathai's departure is untimely and a very great
loss to all who knew her - as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague,
role model, and heroine; or who admired her determination to make the
world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place."
The organisation did not provide further details. Ms Maathai, who was a professor of veterinary anatomy, rose
to international fame for campaigns against government-backed forest
clearances in Kenya in the late 1980s-90s. Under the former government of President Daniel Arap Moi, she was arrested several times, and vilified. In 2008, Ms Maathai was tear-gassed during a protest against
the Kenyan president's plan to increase the number of ministers in the
cabinet.
In her speech accepting the Nobel prize, Ms Maathai said she
hoped her own success would spur other women on to a more active role in
the community. "I hope it will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership," she said.
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