The American campaigner and author was one of the pioneers of the 1960s second-wave feminism and gender equality, promoting reproductive freedom and an end to domestic violence.

Steinem died ‘peacefully’ at home surrounded by her loved ones on Wednesday, an Instagram post today revealed.

The caption, posted with a picture of smiling Steinem, read: ‘Yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her.

‘Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.

‘Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves. Gloria lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor.’

The tribute continued: ‘She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing.

‘She has welcomed hundreds of guests into her living room for Talking Circles, a tradition she insisted will continue long after she is no longer with us.’

Steinem was due to publish her book An Unexpected Life, and her Manhattan brownstone home, where she has lived since 1967, hosted Gloria’s Foundation, a charity honouring and continuing her work and activism.

Her team asked fans to light a candle in her memory.  

Steinem championed collective action, empathy and women taking control of their own bodies, and challenging the constraints of the patriarchal society.  

In the late 1960s, Steinem called for protest against the Vietnam War, shortly before becoming one of the founding members of the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC).

While protesting against the Apartheid, Steinem, Congress members and civil rights campaigners were arrested while demonstrating outside the South African embassy.

Later in her career, Steinem was active in the 2008 election, speaking highly of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, whom she went on to endorse in the 2016 election.

During the Bush administration, she accused it of being more hostile to women’s equality than any of its predecessors.

In January 2017, Steinem spoke to around 500,000 protesters at the Washington DC Women’s March, where she criticised the newly elected US president Donald Trump.

Steinem questioned Trump’s fitness ‘for the immense responsibilities of the office’ before rallying the crowds to join a collective resistance.

During her decades-long career, Steinem published essays and memoirs on feminism and social justice, including her first collection Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, and Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem.

She once said: ‘Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That’s their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood.’ 

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