These are some of the women who have made the headlines in 2003, as seen by the BBC News profiles unit. (The men of the year were profiled last week - see link on right hand side.
BARBARA CASSANI
June saw the appointment of this American businesswoman to lead London's 2012 Olympic bid. Married to a British merchant banker, Barbara Cassani had forged a reputation as a high-flyer, literally. She founded the airline Go, an off-shoot of British Airways until it was sold to EasyJet against her will. The Boston-born Cassani is well aware that the job will be no tea-party given London's transport system. Then again, Athens is the venue for next year.
MAXINE CARR
Maxine Carr became Britain's most infamous woman of 2003 following her conviction for perverting the course of justice in the Soham murder case that gripped the nation in the last few weeks of the year. Though she was found not guilty of any involvement in the murders themselves, it hasn't stopped many members of the public describing her as evil.
CHARLOTTE CHURCH
The 17-year-old Welsh diva has spent much of 2003 in the headlines. June saw her big screen debut, in the poorly received I'll Be There. She also revealed that she had turned down a role in the movie, Phantom of the Opera, after being told to lose weight. In December she split from her boyfriend. Still, 2004 should prove better for Charlotte: she is set to receive an estimated £16m on her 18th birthday.
SHIRIN EBADI
Iran gained its first Nobel Peace Prize winner in October, in 56 year-old lawyer, Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi is credited with being the driving force behind the reform of family laws in Iran by seeking changes in divorce and inheritance legislation. Her outspoken campaigns for democracy and greater rights for Iranian women and children have often brought her into conflict with conservative clerics but won the admiration of human rights groups across the world.
KATHARINE HEPBURN
The actress voted the greatest female star of Hollywood's first century, Katharine Hepburn, died at the age of 96. With her moneyed background, chiselled cheekbones and liking for masculine clothes, her independent spirit enabled her to dictate her own terms to the studios. Hepburn's judgment was confirmed by a record four Best Actress Oscars. Only Spencer Tracy's death ended his love affair with her, but throughout, Hepburn respected the wife to whom he was bound by his Catholicism.
THORA HIRD
Dame Thora Hird, who died at the age of 91, was never a leading lady, but carved out a distinguished career as a character actress. She made her debut in 1911 as a babe in arms at the Royalty Theatre in Morecambe, and later impressed in film and television, too. But, arguably, she saved the best until her dotage, winning two Bafta Best Actress awards as she induced laughter and tears in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues.
MARGARET HODGE
2003 is the year of Margaret Hodge's "big mistake". The government's minister for children described a sex abuse victim as "seriously disturbed" while complaining to the BBC about an inquiry it was making into a child abuse scandal in London's Borough of Islington, the council she used to lead. A lawsuit was avoided when Hodge was forced to make private and public apology, a £10,000 donation to charity, and to pick up the complainant's legal costs.
CHANDRIKA BANDARANAIKE-KUMARATUNGA
The President of Sri Lanka plunged her country into political crisis in November when she sacked a number of ministers, declared a state of emergency and stalled talks with Tamil rebels. At the root of the problem lies Mrs Kumaratunga's bitter political rivalry with her prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who accuses the president of deliberately scuppering the United Nations' sponsored peace talks which opened in Berlin in February.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Aung San Suu Kyi continues to prove the thorn in the side of Burma's military regime. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was taken into "protective custody" in May, after clashes between her supporters and those of the government, and was only released temporarily in September, to undergo surgery. Worldwide protests have prompted Burma's Prime Minister, General Khin Nyunt, to announce a new "road map" to democracy but, meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi will once again see in the New Year under house arrest.
JESSICA LYNCH
She was hailed as a hero, and given a reported half a million dollars for a book about her story. But it emerged that what really happened to 20-year-old Private Lynch during the war in Iraq bore little relation to the official version. She didn't suffer bullet and knife wounds and the US commandos who supposedly fought a gun battle to rescue her in fact encountered no resistance. And far from being tortured, Jessica was given expert care by Iraqi doctors and nurses.
MADONNA
Despite releasing a new album, shooing ramblers off her Wiltshire estate and backing Wesley Clark for president, the irrepressible Madonna still found time to launch a children's book, The English Roses. The beginning of a series, Roses is already a bestseller and one critic describes how, in it, Madonna "tells her readers not to interrupt and listen carefully". A change, then, from her previous literary offering - the 1992 Sex - which was graphically erotic and ceremoniously burned by religious groups.
LIZA MINNELLI
Liza Minnelli hit back in divorce proceedings against her fourth husband, David Gest, after he described her as an overweight, violent alcoholic. Suing Minnelli for £7m, Gest had alleged that she caused him neurological damage when she beat him about the head in a vodka-fuelled frenzy. The Cabaret star responded by accusing Gest of trying to promote himself as the "star" and of improper conduct designed to damage her reputation.
DIANA MOSLEY
Lady Mosley, widow of the British fascist leader, Sir Oswald, died in Paris in August, aged 93. Born into the Mitford family, she originally married a Guinness heir, but later met Mosley and became his mistress. Her wedding to the founder of the British Union of Fascists took place in Joseph Goebbels's drawing room in 1936. Adolf Hitler was a guest. After being interned during World War II, the couple lived in exile in France.
GWYNETH PALTROW
For those just a little bored with the J-Lo and Ben Affleck saga, Gwyneth Paltrow did a favour by her oh-so-quiet wedding to Coldplay singer Chris Martin. No sooner did she reveal to chat show host Michael Parkinson that she was waiting for Martin to propose than the couple revealed they had married in California. And the reputedly aloof Paltrow was anything but as she was pictured pregnant and beaming at her growing bump.
PAULA RADCLIFFE
The golden girl of British athletics continued to dominate long-distance running. Paula Radcliffe's rigorous training discipline, anti-drugs stance and new world record-breaking confidence, have made her a firm favourite for next year's Olympics. This year's clutch of medals at multiple distances means her next big decision is which event to enter at Athens. And at the BBC's Sports Personality review, she only lost out to a couple of rugby players.
LENI RIEFENSTAHL
Leni Riefenstahl, who died this year at the age of 101, is regarded as one of the greatest ever documentary makers. But in Triumph of the Will and Olympia, she glorified Hitler and the Third Reich. She had been a famous actress in Germany, a ballet dancer, an accomplished mountaineer, and went on to excel as a photographer. But her short-lived career as a film director for the Fuhrer defined her as a tainted genius.
MEG RYAN
Once famous for her fully-clothed fake orgasm in When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan finally ditched her Goody-Two-Shoes with her movie, In the Cut. She was booed at the UK premiere when she declined to glad-hand fans. And while she displayed plenty of flesh on the big screen, an icy Meg revealed next to nothing when interviewed by Michael Parkinson, on television. Some viewers objected to Parky's rudeness, but more to Meg's.
MARTHA STEWART
American domestic guru Martha Stewart was charged in June with securities fraud and obstruction of justice, following allegations that she had sold her shares in a biotech firm after an inside tip. Although she denied any wrongdoing, this entrepreneur of etiquette was forced to resign as chairman of her massive lifestyle empire, which trades on her reputation as a tasteful homemaker and sells everything from pianos to pine cones. Stewart's trial is scheduled for January.
JANE TOMLINSON
2003 saw one of the UK's most extraordinary sportswomen, Jane Tomlinson, hit even greater heights. Despite having terminal breast cancer, Leeds-born Jane, a 38 year-old mother of three, completed a 620-mile cycle ride from John O'Groats to Land's End. In August, she took part in the Half Ironman UK Triathlon, swimming 1.2 miles, cycling 56 miles and running a half-marathon. To date she has raised more than £300,000 for cancer research.
MOTHER TERESA
This year Mother Teresa, known as a "living saint" while she was alive, reached the first step towards real sainthood a mere six years after her death. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October. Mother Teresa devoted her life to the care of the poor, destitute and dying. Her Missionaries of Charity order expanded from a single shelter in Calcutta to care for slum-dwellers in 160 cities around the world.
THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX
Sophie Wessex gave birth to a daughter after an emergency Caesarean, making little Lady Louise the Queen's first grandchild to be born in an NHS hospital. An ambulance mix-up left Sophie waiting at home after she went into labour, and complications meant mother and daughter were treated in separate hospitals, but Prince Edward described their reunion as "an emotional moment" and the Countess said their immediate plans were "just to be a family".
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