207,380 profiles ranked

Eleanor Roosevelt

American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1884-1962) · United States · Politicians · Died at 78

Eleanor Roosevelt is read about 3,261 times a day, in 101 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare

She turned first lady into a public force - press conferences, a daily column, a radio show - then spent the second act writing the world's first attempt at universal human rights, a document adopted by the UN in 1948 to a standing ovation.

A life in dates

1973National Women's Hall of FameAward1968United Nations Prize in the Field of Human RightsAward1962Died7 November 19621960“We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together and if we are to live together we have to talk.”In their wordsThe New York Times (1960), as cited in The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women (1992) by Rosalie Maggio, p. 156

“Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.”In their wordsDecember 1960Preface (December 1960) to The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961), p. xix

Gandhi Peace AwardAward1954Nansen Refugee AwardAward1952DeshikottamAward1948Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of LyonAwardHonorary Doctor of the University of UtrechtAward1947“Understanding is a two-way street.”In their wordsAs quoted in Modern Quotations for Ready Reference (1947) by Arthur Richmond, p. 455

1945United Nations General AssemblyOffice1945-19521944“Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be "damned if you do, and damned if you don't.”In their wordsAs quoted in How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1944; 1948) by Dale Carnegie; though Roosevelt has sometimes been credited with the

1935“I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.”In their words24 August 1935From article "In Defense of Curiosity" appearing in The Saturday Evening Post 208 (August 24, 1935); 8-9, 64-66.

1933“Oh! I want to put my arms around you, I ache to hold you close. Your ring is a great comfort. I look at it and think she does love me or I wouldn't be wearing it!”In their words7 March 1933In a letter to Lorena Hickok, March 7, 1933

First Lady of the United StatesOffice1933-19451884Born11 October 1884

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

In their own words 10

,
Eleanor Roosevelt
,
10 statements, newest first
  1. We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together and if we are to live together we have to talk.

    1960, The New York Times (1960), as cited in The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women (1992) by Rosalie Maggio, p. 156, Own words

  2. Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

    Dec 1960, Preface (December 1960) to The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961), p. xix, Own words

  3. It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

    Nov 11, 1951, Voice of America broadcast (11 November 1951), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

National Women's Hall of Fame1973
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights1968
Gandhi Peace Award1960
Nansen Refugee Award1954
Deshikottam1952
Honorary Doctor of the University of Utrecht1948
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Lyon1948
Honorary Doctor of Brandeis University

Family

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born October 11, 1884, into the prominent Roosevelt and Livingston families, a niece of Theodore Roosevelt, but her childhood was marked by the deaths of both parents and a brother. At 15 she studied at Allenswood Boarding Academy in London under the formative influence of its director Marie Souvestre. She married her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1905 and bore six children between 1906 and 1916, one dying in infancy. The marriage fractured in 1918 when she discovered Franklin's affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer; after mediation by her mother-in-law Sara, the affair ended officially, but both partners kept independent lives thereafter. Roosevelt joined the Women's Trade Union League and the New York state Democratic Party, and persuaded Franklin to remain in politics after paralytic illness struck him in 1921. When he became president in 1933, she redefined the role through relentless travel, public engagement, and outspoken advocacy - particularly for civil rights for African Americans - that made her controversial in the early White House years. Widowed in 1945, she served as a U.S. delegate to the

Country
United States
Category
Politicians
Type
Public Official
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1884 to 1962 · aged 78

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.