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The Forum: Gretta Cousins: champion of Irish and Indian women

Margaret Cousins

16/04/2020 GMT

Gretta Cousins: champion of Irish and Indian women

BBC World Service - The Forum, Gretta Cousins: champion of Irish and Indian women

A pianist and activist who fought for women’s votes and better lives

The remarkable life of a determined campaigner for women’s rights around the world.

How many people can lay claim to playing a key role in three different 20th century protest movements across the world, each of which largely succeeded in their aims? Margaret ‘Gretta’ Cousins, the daughter of a minor court official from Boyle in Ireland and a musician by profession certainly can. 
The common thread in all of these battles for this driven, feisty activist was the demand for equality for women: Gretta Cousins spent time in jails in Ireland, England and India for her beliefs and remained a catalyst for change throughout her life.  As a suffragette she was involved in high-profile direct action in London and Dublin, while in India she not only contributed to the improvement of women’s lives but also became the country’s first female magistrate.


Rajan Datar is joined by historians Dr. Margaret Ward from Queen's University in Belfast, Dr. Jyoti Atwal from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and University of Limerick and Dr. Emily Rook-Koepsel from the University of Pittsburgh.

(Photo: Margaret Cousins, c.1931)

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