Florence Barry (14 May 1885–1965)[1] was a British suffragist, member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and leader of the Roman Catholic feminist organisation St. Joan’s International Alliance.
Her father Zacharie Balthazar Barry (Bahri)[2] was a Persian immigrant who had been born in Smyrna, became a naturalised British subject and worked as a fruit merchant.
[5] In 1912, she became a member of the Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society (CWSS), later known as the St. Joan’s International Alliance, and was appointed the honorary secretary of the Liverpool branch.
[3] Barry also liaised with international Catholic organisations and women's rights activists on other issues,[9] such as communicating with the Trusteeship Council in support of questions they added to a questionnaire about the "physical integrity of women," which meant female circumcision (now known as female genital mutilation).
[10] Pope Pius XII awarded Barry the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal in 1951, which is the highest papal honour that women can receive.