Early life and education

Wangari Maathai was born in the village of Ilithe in Nyeri, Kenya on 1st April 1940.

In 1948, after a request was made by her older brother to her parents, she studied in Kenya Ilithe Primary School and moved to St Cecila Intermediate Primary School where she became fluent in English. With her outstanding results, she was granted admission to the only Catholic high school for girls, Loreto High School, in Kenya.

In 1960. she became one of the 300 Kenyans be selected to study in America through the Jospeh P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation (or the Kennedy Airlift). The program aimed to provide education in Western countries to promising student.

She was awarded a scholarship to study in Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas where she received her Bachelor of Science in 1964. Subsequently, she received her Master’s degree in biological science in 1966 at University of Pittsburgh.

In pursuit of a doctorate, she travelled to Germany but received her doctorate in University of Nairobi, making her the first East African woman to receive a PhD (in veterinary anatomy) in 1971.

Family and Marriage

She married Mwangi Mathai in 1969 who became politically active and they had three children, two daughters (Wanjira Mathai, Muta Mathai) and one son (Waweru Mathai).

However, they filed for a divorce in 1977 with her husband claiming that she was too strong-minded as a woman and it was difficult to control her.

Mathaai was also accused by her ex-husband of adultery and the court ruled in favour of Mwangi Mathai. Maathai criticised the judge for being incompetent and corrupted, resulting in her being sentenced to jail for 6 months but was released after three days. She was also demanded by her ex-husband to drop his surname.

Her careers and voluntary work>