SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Viola Desmond

1914 - 1965

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Icon of person Viola Desmond

Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Viola Desmond has received more than 2,161,960 page views. Her biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 15 in 2019). Viola Desmond is the 327th most popular social activist (up from 380th in 2019), the 176th most popular biography from Canada (up from 256th in 2019) and the 2nd most popular Canadian Social Activist.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 53.03

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 18

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.04

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.38

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists, Viola Desmond ranks 327 out of 840. Before her are Meshadi Azizbekov, Frances Ames, Bhikaiji Cama, Joseph von Sonnenfels, Wessel Freytag von Loringhoven, and Naziha al-Dulaimi. After her are Ricardo Flores Magón, Edna Parker, Joe Hill, Dhondo Keshav Karve, Lampião, and Mohamed Bouazizi.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1914, Viola Desmond ranks 161. Before her are Howard Fast, Alfred Andersch, Taizo Kawamoto, Andrzej Panufnik, Gretel Bergmann, and Max Wünsche. After her are Adolf Diekmann, Sarla Thakral, Norman McLaren, Arno Schmidt, Zivia Lubetkin, and Sisowath Sirik Matak. Among people deceased in 1965, Viola Desmond ranks 96. Before her are Erik Heinrichs, Mostafa El-Nahas, Árpád Szakasits, Linda Darnell, D. N. Aidit, and Philip Showalter Hench. After her are Nikolay Lossky, Maria Dąbrowska, Daniel-Rops, Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Dorothy Dandridge, and Píndaro de Carvalho Rodrigues.

Others Born in 1914

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Others Deceased in 1965

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In Canada

Among people born in Canada, Viola Desmond ranks 176 out of 1,622. Before her are Napoleon Sarony (1821), Alfred Aho (1941), Nelly Furtado (1978), Arthur Jeffrey Dempster (1886), Ian Hacking (1936), and Anne Carson (1950). After her are Elisha Cuthbert (1982), Stana Katic (1978), Alanis Morissette (1974), Shulamith Firestone (1945), John van 't Schip (1963), and Georges Vézina (1887).

Others born in Canada

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In Canada

Among social activists born in Canada, Viola Desmond ranks 2. Before her are Paul Watson (1950). After her are David Reimer (1965), John Peters Humphrey (1905), Henrietta Edwards (1849), Emily Murphy (1868), Sheila Watt-Cloutier (1953), and Autumn Peltier (2004).

Canadian born Social Activists

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