Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai was born in 1940 in a village in Kenya. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The judges valued "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”. She was also a member of Kenya's Parliament. She served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources between 2003 and 2005.
1940年，旺加里·马塔伊博士出生在肯尼亚村庄。2004年，她成为了首位获得诺贝尔和平奖的非洲女性。评委认为她对可持续发展、民主和和平做出了重大贡献。她还曾是肯尼亚议会成员。2003-2005年，她担任肯尼亚环境和自然资源部助理部长。
Maathai left Kenya after high school to study biology in the USA. She got both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees and returned to Kenya. She became the first Kenyan woman to earn a Ph.D. In 1971, she became a professor at the University of Nairobi. In 2002, Maathai accepted a position at Yale University's Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry.
高中毕业后，马塔伊前往美国学习生物。并在美国获得学士和硕士学位，之后返回肯尼亚。她也是首位获得博士学位的肯尼亚女性。1971年，她担任内罗毕大学教授。2002年，她在耶鲁大学森林环境学院获得职位。
Her environmental roots were planted in 1977. She founded the Green Belt Movement, a non-governmental organization whose mission was to plant trees across Kenya to prevent soil erosion. It has planted over 40 million trees to date and earned her the nickname of "The Tree Mother of Africa." This experience sparked her keen interest in protecting the environment and saving the planet.
而她的环保事业是从1977年开始的。那年，她建立了非营利组织“绿带运动”，该组织的目的是要在肯尼亚种树，防止水土流失。目前，该组织已经种植了4000万棵树木，而她也获得了“非洲树妈妈”的称号。这样的经历更激发了她保护环境，拯救地球的决心。
Dr. Maathai became more involved in environmental and women's issues. Her politician husband divorced her because of this. He said she was too strong-minded for a woman. Amazingly, the divorce judge agreed and jailed her! Dr. Maathai was a member of the Nobel Women's Initiative and campaigned globally for peace with justice and equality. She died of cancer aged 71 on September 26, 2011.
马塔伊博士更加投身于环保和女性问题上。由于这些问题，身为政治家的丈夫选择离开她。他认为作为女性，她显得太有主见了。令人惊讶的是，离婚法官同意了这一说法，并将她监禁。马塔伊博士曾是“Nobel Women's Initiative ”的成员，并在全球宣传正义与平等。2011年9月26日，马塔伊因癌症去世。
译文属秀哈英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。
