Special Section: Women: Tyros and Tokens

History resounds with their names.

The biblical Deborah, who led the Israelites to victory against the Canaanites. The Byzantine Empress Theodora, who inspired most of the important legislation of Justinian's reign. Catherine the Great of Russia, who had skills—and drives—as prodigious as her legendary predecessor Peter. From Nefertiti, the Maid of Orleans and Elizabeth I down to modern times, women leaders have left their mark. The 1970s alone have seen no fewer than four female heads of state: Israel's Golda Meir, India's Indira Gandhi, Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Argentina's Isabelita Perón, who...

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