From a young age, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dedicated her life to fighting for equality. Soft-spoken yet fierce, shy yet strong, she was not afraid to stand up for what she believed was right and to speak out about it. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, during the Depression. Her father prepared and sold furs, and her mother worked in a factory. Education was important from the outset, encouraged by her mother. Sadly, her mother died the day before Ruth graduated from school. She gained a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, where she was top of her class. Ruth stopped studying for a few years in the mid-1950s after her husband, Martin, was drafted for military service following the birth of her first child. When he returned, she enrolled at Harvard Law School. When Martin was diagnosed with cancer in 1956, Ruth nursed him, kept him up to date with his studies, and maintained her position at the top of her class.

Ruth was one of only nine women in a class of 500 students, and many criticised her for taking a man’s place on the course. Nonetheless, she graduated top of her class both at Harvard and Columbia Law, where she finished her law training. Even then, she struggled to get work and didn’t receive the same pay as male lawyers. All this became part of her passion to fight gender discrimination (being treated differently because of your gender).

One of her proudest achievements was when President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, which aimed to reduce unfair pay based on gender. She became a member of the Supreme Court (America’s highest national court) in 1993. Although she suffered several illnesses towards the end of her life, she never missed a day of oral arguments in her fight against gender discrimination. Her commitment to doing the right thing throughout her life never wavered.