TIME names Cory Aquino one of 25 most powerful women in 20th century

Democracy icon and former President Corazon Aquino has been named by TIME Magazine as among The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century.

With her are other big names who made an imprint on society—from two-time Nobel laureate Marie Curie who discovered polonium and radium, to Britain’s “Iron Lady” and Europe’s first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher, to Mother Theresa who in her iconic white garb has long symbolized benevolence, and to the “best selling female rock artist of the 20th century”, Madonna.

Shortly after the historic People Power in 1986, Aquino, who died on August 1, 2009 following a bout with colon cancer, was also hailed by TIME Magazine as its “Woman of the Year.”

In choosing Aquino as among the 25 women who have most influenced our world, TIME wrote:

“Cory Aquino had no political ambitions of her own until her husband Senator Benigno Aquino was assassinated in 1983. Almost instantly, she became a unifying force against the autocratic President Ferdinand Marcos and ran in the 1986 presidential election.

“The ruling powers declared Marcos the winner, but a series of peaceful demonstrations along with backing from the church finally put Aquino in power. Her sudden ascension as the first female President of the Philippines was the battered islands’ first step toward democracy.

“Weathering both coup attempts and corruption charges, Aquino was unable to push through much of the social reform that her supporters had hoped for. But when she stepped down in 1992, she still stood tall as the people’s choice.”

Following is the full list of TIME’s most powerful women:

1. Jane Addams (1860-1935)
2. Corazon Aquino (1933-2009)
3. Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
4. Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
5. Julia Child (1912-2004)
6. Hillary Clinton (1947-Present)
7. Marie Curie (1867-1934)
8. Aretha Franklin (1942-Present)
9. Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
10. Estée Lauder (1908-2004)
11. Madonna (1958-Present)
12. Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
13. Golda Meir (1898-1978)
14. Angela Merkel (1954-Present)
15. Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-Present)
16. Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
17. Jiang Qing (1914-1991)
18. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
19. Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)
20. Gloria Steinem (1934-Present)
21. Martha Stewart (1941-Present)
22. Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
23. Margaret Thatcher (1925-Present)
24. Oprah Winfrey (1954-Present)
25. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)