Greenpeace History
Who were the Founders?
Greenpeace insiders have debated about “founders” since the group became famous in the mid-1970s. In the early years, no one thought about it or cared.
Frank Zelko is probably the most objective scholar to study the history of Greenpeace. See his Ph.D. Dissertation, Make it a Green Peace: The History of an International Environmental Organization,” (University of Kansas, 2003).
Zelko says unequivocally: “Unlike Friends of the Earth, for example, which basically sprung fully formed from the forehead of David Brower, Greenpeace developed in a more evolutionary manner. There was no single founder.” There was also no group of founders in any formal way, although several people played crucial roles in the early evolution of the organization.
Gender bias: Previous lists of “founders” have been shamefully gender-biased. The following information is available in the historic record.
For more details, see Chronology and annotated Characters
Directors: Don’t Make A Wave Committee, 1970-71.
Irving Stowe (Deceased: October, 1974)
Jim Bohlen
Paul Cote
Dorothy Stowe, secretary, correspondence
Marie Bohlen conceived the idea to sail a protest boat to Amchitka Island
Bob Hunter coined the name “Don’t Make a Wave” for the ecology group SPEC
Bill Darnell coined the name “Greenpeace” at a meeting in 1971.
Crew of the first Greenpeace campaign. Photo by Robert Keziere. See Photo Gallery.
Crew of first Greenpeace Boat to Amchitka Island, 1971:
Jim Bohlen
Bill Darnell
Patrick Moore
Lyle Thurston
Dave Birmingham
Terry Simmons
Richard Fineberg
Robert Hunter
Bob Keziere
John Cormack (Deceased: Nov. 17, 1988)
Ben Metcalfe (Deceased: Oct. 14, 2003)
Bob Cummings (Deceased: 1987)
Rod Marining (Replaced Fineberg in Kodiak, mid-October, 1971)
Shore Crew, 1971
Dorothy Metcalfe
Irving and Dorothy Stowe
Marie Bohlen
Zoe Hunter
Lou Hogan
Deeno Birmingham
Doug McGinnis
Hamish Bruce
Chris Bergthorson
Peter Fraser
Paul Watson
And many others. See Characters.
The “Greenpeace Foundation” was registered in British Columbia on May 4, 1972
First Chairman of the Greenpeace Foundation: Ben Metcalfe, 1972
First President of the Greenpeace Foundation: Bob Hunter, 1973
For more details and biographies about the founders of Greenpeace see Chronology, annotated Characters, and the book Greenpeace: How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists and Visionaries Changed the World by Rex Weyler (Raincoast Books, Rodale Press, 2004).
Stories about the term “Greenpeace” being independently coined elsewhere are apocryphal.