1200: Zina D H Young Third General President of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Born: 31 January 1821, Watertown, New York, United States of America Died: 28 August 1901, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America “Sisters, it is for us to be wide awake to our…
1196: Jane Sharp Pioneering Midwife and Author Born: Most Likely 1610s/1620s, Present-day England, United Kingdom Died: After 1671, Most-likely Present-day England, United Kingdom Jane is known for having written the first book on English midwifery to be written by a woman. When she published the book in 1671, Jane described herself as a midwife with…
1195: Zelia Nuttall One of the First and Most Important Mexican Archaeologists Born: 6 September 1857, San Francisco, California, United States of America Died: 12 April 1933, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico Zelia’s entire career was founded on the fact that she wanted to dispel the narrative that Mexico’s indigenous past was nothing more than “bloodthirsty…
“The most important thing is that we give them their dignity back.” 1170: Dr. Ruth Pfau German-born Nun and Medical Missionary Born: 9 September 1929, Leipzig, Germany Died: 10 August 2017, Karachi, Pakistan Dr. Pfau was an advocate for Lepers in Pakistan, but oddly enough, she was never supposed to stay in Pakistan in the…
1169: Hessy Levinsons Taft Jewish Woman Whose Baby Portrait was Used by the Nazis in Propaganda Work Born: 17 May 1934, Berlin, Germany Hessy’s parents were from Latvia but had moved to Germany a few years before Hessy was born. Her parents had dreams of being opera singers, but unfortunately once it was discovered that…
1159: Martine Bertereau, Baroness de Beau Soleil Mining Engineer and Mineralogist Born: c.1602, Possibly Touraine, France Died: c.1642, Vincennes, France The Baroness traveled Europe extensively in search of mineral deposits and fresh groundwater sources at the behest of various nobles and members of different European royal families. She was possibly the first female geologist and…
1141: Alessandra Giliani The First Known Female Practitioner of Anatomy and Pathology Born: c. 1307, Persiceto, Italy Died: c.1326, Bologna, Italy Alessandra was a surgical assistant who was said to have excelled in dissections. She may have invented a technique of injecting dye to see blood vessels throughout the human body. Alessandra’s story first appears…
1139: Aglaonice The First Female Astronomer of Ancient Greece Lived: c. 3rd Century BC, Thessaly, Ancient Greece Aglaonice was thought of as a Sorceress because she could predict when lunar eclipses would happen. She is mentioned in the histories written by Plutarch and Apollonius of Rhodes. Little else of her life is known today. One…
1135: Sophia Hayden Bennett Architect and Artist Born: 17 October 1868, Santiago, Chile Died: 3 February 1953, Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States of America Sophia was born to a Peruvian mother and an American father. She spent her first six years in Chile, before moving to the United States to live with her paternal grandparents. Sophia…
1118: Laura Bassi The Second Woman to ever receive a Doctoral Degree from a University Born: 29 October 1711, Bologna, Papal States (Present-day Bologna, Italy) Died: 20 February 1778, Bologna, Papal States (Present-day Bologna, Italy) Full Name: Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti Laura was a child prodigy who studied French and Latin. She mostly learned…