For most of history, Anonymous was a woman. – Virginia Woolf
From writers like Jane Austen to even rulers like Queen Victoria, the world never quite managed to make peace with the fact that women could have the power – to bring significant changes in human history, or even to be in a position of power. So whenever it could, the history of mankind (do note the word) has tried to erase the significant achievements and contributions of women. So here I present 6 such women to you, whom you should recognize for their contribution in making a better future world.
1. Ada Lovelace – first computer programmer
Ada Lovelace was a British mathematician and the daughter of Lord Byron. She was also the first computer programmer in human history. She worked closely with Charles Babbage, the inventor of the computer and wrote the first ever algorithm that could be carried out by the machine.
2. Mary Wollstonecraft – first noted feminist
Mary Wollstonecraft was an 18th-century thinker, author, women’s rights activist and the first noted feminist in the history of mankind, and yet the few people who do remember her, do so as the mother of the author Mary Shelley. Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) has remained as one of the pioneering feminist text.
3. Rosalind Franklin – biophysicist
British biophysicist Franklin was an X-ray crystallographer. Her findings on the DNA molecule helped significantly to decipher the structure of DNA – an event that helped science progress as far as it has in the modern day. Despite that, the credit for the same work went to 3 male scientists who won the Nobel prize for the same.
4. Annie Besant – social activist
Annie Besant was an Irish theosophist and socialist from early 20th century. She was also a prominent supporter of Irish and Indian freedom movements. She joined the Indian National Congress and became the first woman president of the Congress. She’s also known for the powerful lead she gave to women’s movement in India.
5. Beryl Markham – the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic
She was a British aviator and adventurer who was also the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west in 1936. She was also one of the first people in the world to earn a commercial pilot’s license. Both of her feats are of utmost significance because of the time period and remain as pioneering works of progress for women.
6. Queen Hatshepsut – the first female pharaoh
She was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt – when queens were not exactly allowed to be so. She was also one of the longest reigning and most successful pharaohs in the history of ancient Egypt.
Let us not let them remain obscure when they should be known by everyone. Tell us if you know of any other such women from history in the comments.