Christabel Pankhurst

Dame Christabel Pankhurst DBE
Christabel Pankhurst, c. 1910
Born	Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (1880-09-22)22 September 1880 Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Died	13 February 1958(1958-02-13) (aged 77) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting place	Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery
Occupation	Political activist
Parent(s)	Richard Pankhurst Emmeline Goulden
Relatives	Sylvia Pankhurst (sister) Adela Pankhurst (sister) Richard Pankhurst (nephew) Helen Pankhurst (great-niece) Alula Pankhurst (great-nephew)

Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE (/ˈpæŋkhərst/; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British woman. She was born in Manchester, England. She was a suffragette, which means she wanted England to give women the right to vote. She was one of the founders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). In 1914, she supported Britain going to war against Germany in World War I.

Early life

Christabel Pankhurst was the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and Richard Pankhurst. She had two sisters: Sylvia and Adela Pankhurst. Her father was a barrister, which is a high-ranking lawyer, and her mother owned a small shop.

Education

Pankhurst learned to read at home on her own before she went to school. She went to Manchester High School for Girls with her two sisters. She got a law degree from the University of Manchester, and received honours on her LL.B. exam. However, Pankhurst could not practise law because she was a woman. British law did not allow women to be lawyers at that time.

Death

Christabel died 13 February 1958, at the age of 77. She was buried in the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.

Recognition after death

There is a profile bust, which is a small statue, of Christabel Pankhurst on the right pylon of the Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens. The sculpture was put there in 1959.

The Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial