Gertrud Baer

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German Jewish women's rights and peace activist, noted as one of the founding members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She served as the executive secretary of the German branch of WILPF beginning in 1921 and co-chair of the international organization from 1929 to 1947. Throughout World War II, though leadership was shared, Baer was the primary leader of the organization. At the end of the war, she became the first WILPF consultant to the United Nations and held that post until 1972. Some of the initiatives she was involved in was urging the World Health Organization to investigate what effect atomic tests and specifically radiation posed to the population. Beginning in 1955, she stressed the need to utilize solar energy, rather than pursue nuclear power. She pressed for disarmament and worked to get the superpowers to agree to passage of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ahead of her time in many ways, Baer's ideas preceded both second-wave feminism and the 1980s rebirth of the peace movement. In 1940, Baer became a naturalized American citizen, though she moved to Geneva, Switzerland permanently in 1950. She died in Geneva on 15 December 1981 at aged 91. Link to Wikipedia biography