Betty Williams | Biography, Nobel Prize, & Facts | Britannica
History & Society

Betty Williams

Northern Irish activist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Print
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: Elizabeth Williams
Byname of:
Elizabeth Williams
Born:
May 22, 1943, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died:
March 17, 2020, Belfast (aged 76)
Awards And Honors:
Nobel Prize (1976)

Betty Williams (born May 22, 1943, Belfast, Northern Ireland—died March 17, 2020, Belfast) Northern Irish peace activist who, with Máiread Maguire and Ciaran McKeown, founded the Peace People, a grassroots movement dedicated to ending the sectarian strife in Northern Ireland. For her work, Williams shared with Maguire the 1976 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Williams, an office worker and wife and mother, took little part in public life until August 1976, when she witnessed an incident that moved her to speak out. An Irish Republican Army terrorist was shot by British troops while fleeing in a car, and the car went out of control and struck several people, killing three children. Williams immediately began circulating petitions in Protestant neighbourhoods calling for an end to sectarian violence. This activity soon brought her into association with Maguire (then Máiread Corrigan), an aunt of the slain children, who had been similarly galvanized into action. Together they founded the Peace People to advocate for an end to the Northern Ireland conflict.

Williams left the Peace People organization in the early 1980s. Soon afterward she immigrated to the United States, where she resided for two decades before moving to the Republic of Ireland. Williams founded the World Centers of Compassion for Children International in 1997. In 2006 she joined Maguire and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Wangari Maathai, and Rigoberta Menchú to found the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.