Cultural Icons: Voices of their Nation

A handful of men and women are important enough that they are remembered for
years, even centuries, after their deaths.
By identifying cultural leaders (or icons) who have impacted the social, political, or
environmental views of their countries, we can come to understand what a cultural
icon is.

Sir Edmund Hillary

Country: New Zealand
Event: First person to climb Mt Everest

Importance:
Climbing Mt Everest was a significant achievement and
Hillary was acknowledged for his skill and bravery.
He went on to be a great ambassador for New Zealand,
especially for his humanitarian efforts.
He was a humble man who used his profile to help the
people of Nepal set up schools and hospitals. He is a
cultural icon of NZ and features on the NZ $5 bill.

Mahatma Gandhi
Country: India
Event: Mahatma Gandhi helped India win independence from
Britain

Importance:
To sum it all up, India gained independence from Britain in
1947, thanks in large part to Mahatma Gandhi's peaceful
civil disobedience campaign. But throughout Gandhis life
he has organised many protests, been to jail and fasted for
his beliefs in what India should have.

Martin Luther King

Country: African-American
Event: Leader in the African-American civil rights movement

Importance:
Some of Mr. Kings major achievements were being an
advocate for nonviolent protest in the Memphis sanitation
worker strike, providing leadership in the Montgomery bus
boycott of 1955, his "I Have a Dream" speech and being
instrumental in establishing the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference in 1957. Martin Luther King was
also a father to four children and a husband to Coretta Scott
King.

Benazir Bhutto
Country: Pakistan
Event: The first democratically elected female leader of Pakistan

Importance:
Benazir Bhutto inherited leadership of the Pakistan People's
Party (PPP) after a military coup overthrew her father's
government. Benazir Bhutto won the election in 1988,
becoming the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation.
When she was in exile, she was convicted of corruption and
sentenced to jail. She continued to direct the PPP from
abroad, being re-affirmed as the PPP leader in 2002.
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after
President Musharraf permitted her pardon on all charges,
opening the way for her return as well as a possible
power-sharing agreement.

Dalai Lama
Country: China
Event: Spiritual leader for the tibetans

Importance: The 14th Dalai Lama ( the current one) are

important Monks. Dalai Lama is a spiritual and temporal
leader of the Tibetan people. In 1950 he was called upon to
take full political power as Government and Head of State,
when Tibet was under threat from China.

Kate Sheppard
Country: The United Kingdom
Event: Was a leader in the fight for womens rights

Importance:
Kate sheppard was a suffragette. In 1893 she gathered just
below 32,000 signatures, and presented the petition to
parliament, it was declared on the 19 of September women
had the right to vote. Making New Zealand the first country
in the world to allow women to vote. Kate Sheppard
continued to help this cause in and out of New Zealand.
Kate became the President of the National Council of
Women of New Zealand and the editor of The White Ribbon
the first newspaper in New Zealand to be owned, managed
and published solely by women.

Margaret Thatcher
Country: England
Event: Was the first female Prime Minister of Britain
Importance:
Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female Primeminister.
One of her biggest changes to the british society was when
she wanted private companies and people, not officials, to
run government-owned things like British Gas and BT (
british Telecom). She believed this would work better than
the previous system. Thousands of ordinary people were
able to buy their council houses. The City of London soon
became one of the world's most successful centres for
banking and business.

Apirana Ngata
Country: New Zealand
Event: Was a major force behind the improvement of government
policy toward the Maori in the early 20th century.

Importance:
Mr. Ngata was a political and cultural leader of the Maori
community, he worked to improve and revive Maori culture.
Mr. Ngata was the first Maori Graduate of a New Zealand
University. In 1905 he started his 39-year term of office in
Parliament, representing the eastern Maori constituency.
He was knighted in 1927.

Nelson Mandela
Country: South Africa
Event: Was the first black President of South Africa

Importance:
Nelson Mandela was the first black President of South
Africa, he was jailed for 27 years after he tried to overthrow
the pro-apartheid government. Once he was released from
prison he started to work towards human rights and a better
future for all people in South Africa. When he was President
he was respected and considered very wise.

Winston Churchill
Country: Britain
Event: Was the Prime Minister of Britain through WW2

Importance:
Winston Churchill led Britain through WW2. He was known
for motivational speeches to push national morale
throughout the war. Mr. Churchill also wanted to partner with
the Americans in making a post war order. This was to limit
Josef Stalins ability to dominate British proceedings.