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Famous women in historyEspecially many proponents of feminism have argued that the achievements of women have been insufficiently represented in works of history up through the 20th century. Therefore, many historians and especially those who concentrate on women's studies have drawn attention to women who can be considered historically significant.
Rulers, consorts, heads of state:
- Hatshepsut of Egypt, (c. 1504 BC-1458 BC), (Egypt)
- Arsinoe II of Egypt (Egypt)
- Cleopatra VII of Egypt, (69 BC-30 BC), (Egypt)
- Boudicca (England)
- Zenobia (Palmyra)
- Theodora, Empress of Byzantium
- Wu Zetian, Empress of China
- Melisende (Jerusalem)
- Isabella of Spain, (1451-1504)
- Eleonora di Arborea (Sardinia)
- Margaret I of Denmark and Norway, (1353-1412)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, (died 1204), (France)
- Catherine de Medici, (1519-1589), (France)
- Jeanne d'Albret, (1572-1572), (France)
- Diane de Poitiers, (1499-1566), France
- Gabrielle d'Estrée, (1571-1599), (France)
- Agnès Sorel, (1421-1450), (France)
- Anne of Austria (France)
- Marguerite de Valois (France)
- Mary I of England, (1553-1558), (England) - (Bloody Mary)
- Mary, Queen of Scots, (1542-1587), (Scotland)
- Maria Theresa of Austria, (1717-1780), (Austria)
- Anna I of Russia (Anna I) (Russia)
- Catherine I of Russia, (1684-1727), (Russia)
- Catherine II of Russia, (1729-1796), (Russia) - (Catherine the Great)
- Elizabeth of Russia, (died 1762), (Russia)
- Christina of Sweden, (died 1689)
- Elizabeth I of England, (1558-1603)
- Queen Anne, (1665-1714)
- Mary II, (1662-1694), (Great Britain)
- Queen Victoria (United Kingdom)
- Anne Neville, (1456-1485), (England))
- Catherine of Valois (England)
- Diana, Princess of Wales, (1961-1997), (United Kingdom)
- Elizabeth Woodville (England)
- Margaret of Anjou (England)
- Mary of Teck, (1867-1953), (United Kingdom)
- Aleksandra Lisowska (Khourrem) (1510 - 1558), (Ottoman Empire)
- Marie Antoinette, (1755-1793), (France)
Politicians, political figures
- Madeleine Albright, (born 1937), – United States
- Corazon Aquino, (born 1933), – Philippines
- Nancy Astor, (1879-1964), – United Kingdom
- Aung San Suu Kyi, (born 1945), – Myanmar
- Benazir Bhutto, (born 1953), – Pakistan
- Hattie Caraway, (1878-1950), - 1st woman elected to US Senate
- Sarah Churchill
- Helen Clark, (born 1950)
- Vigdis Finnbogadottir, (born 1930), – Iceland
- Indira Gandhi, (1917-1984), – India
- Sonja Gandhi – India
- Tarja Halonen, (born 1943), – Finland
- Petra Kelly, (1947-1992), (Germany)
- Aleksandra Kollontai – Soviet Union
- Constance Markiewicz (nee Gore-Booth) (1868-1927) - Ireland
- Golda Meir, (1898-1978), – Israel
- Eva Peron, (1919-1952), – Argentina
- Janet Reno, (born 1938), – United States
- Mary Robinson, (1990-1997), Ireland
- Eleanor Roosevelt, (1884-1962), United States
- Margaret Chase Smith, (born 1897), – US congresswoman
- Margaret Thatcher, (born 1925), – United Kingdom
Activists and revolutionaries
- Susan B. Anthony, (1820-1906), – United States
- Annie Besant, (1847-1933)
- Millicent Fawcett
- Emma Goldman, (1869-1940)
- Rosa Luxemburg, (1871-1919), – Germany
- Rigoberta Menchú, (born 1959) - Guatemala
- Lucretia Mott, (1793-1880)
- Madalyn Murray O'Hair – United States
- Christabel Pankhurst – United Kingdom
- Emmeline Pankhurst, (died 1928), – United Kingdom
- Rosa Parks, (born 1913), – United States
- Margaret Sanger, (1879-1966)
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, (1815-1902)
- Gloria Steinem, (born 1935)
- Sojourner Truth, (1797?-1883)
- Tončka Čeč, (1896-1943), Slovene national heroine
Artists, writers, poets
- Emma Abbott, (1849-1891)
- Isabel Allende, (born 1942), (writer)
- Jane Austen, (1775-1817), (writer)
- Margaret Atwood, (born 1939), (writer)
- Mary Cassatt, (1844-1926), (painter)
- Régine Deforges (writer, 1st woman in France to own a Publishing company)
- Grazia Deledda, (1871-1936), (writer, Nobel prize)
- Karen Blixen, (1885-1962), (writer)
- George Eliot, (1819-1880), (writer)
- Ninon de lEnclos
- Marie de France (troubador)
- Veronica Franco, (1546-1591), (poet)
- Artemisia Gentileschi, (1593-1651)
- Nina Hamnett, (1890-1956), painter, designer
- Sappho (poet)
- Ouida, (1839-1908), (writer; a.k.a. Marie Louise de la Ramee)
- Zora Neale Hurston, (1891-1960), (writer)
- Toni Morrison, (born 1931), (writer, Nobel prize)
- Mary Pickford, (1892-1979), actress, co-founder of United Artists
- Christine de Pizan, (circa 1365-circa 1430), (writer)
- Ayn Rand, (1905-1982), (writer)
- Murasaki Shikibu, (973?-1025?), (writer)
- Gertrude Stein, (1874-1946), (writer)
- Theano (writer, philosopher)
- Suzanne Valadon, (1865-1938), painter
- Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, (1755-1842), painter
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, (1892-1950)
- Phillis Wheatley, (1753-1784), (poet)
- Virginia Woolf, (1882-1941), (author)
Scientists and mathematicians
- Hypatia of Alexandria, (died 415), (mathematician)
- Ruth Benedict, (anthropologist)
- Ada Byron, (1815-1852), Countess Lovelace
- Emilie du Chatelet, (1706-1749), studied with Voltaire
- Marie Sklodowska-Curie (Nobel prize)
- Irene Joliot-Curie, (1897-1956), (physicist)
- Dian Fossey, (1932-1985), (biology)
- Rosalind Franklin, (1920-1958), (DNA)
- Sophie Germain, (1776-1831), (mathematician)
- Dorothy Hodgkin (chemist)
- Grace Hopper, (1906-1992)
- Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya - (1850-1891), Russian mathematician
- Margaret Mead, (1901-1978), (anthropologist)
- Lise Meitner, (1878-1968), (physicist)
- Emmy Noether, (1882-1935), (mathematician)
- Helen Hogg
- Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
- Maria Mayer
Medical notables
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (physician)
- Virginia Apgar, (1909-1974), (physician)
- Clara Barton, (1821-1912), (nurse, activist)
- Elizabeth Blackwell, (1821-1910), (physician)
- Dorothea Dix, (1802-1887)
- Anna Maxwell, (1851-1929), (nurse, author)
- Florence Nightingale, (1820-1910), (nurse)
- Jennie Kidd Trout, (1841-1921), first licensed woman physician in Canada in 1875.
- Mary Edwards Walker, (1832-1919), (physician)
Musicians
- Josephine Baker, (1906-1975)
- Maria Callas, (1923-1977)
- Ella Fitzgerald, (1918-1996)
- Aretha Franklin, (born 1942)
- Billie Holiday, (1915-1959)
- Mahalia Jackson, (1911-1972)
- Janis Joplin, (1943-1970)
- Fanny Mendelssohn, (1805-1847)
- Joni Mitchell, (born 1943)
- Alanis Morissette, (born 1974)
- Edith Piaf, (1915-1963)
- Clara Schumann, (1819-1896)
- Bessie Smith, (1894-1937)
- Lucinda Williams
Outlaws, pirates and criminals
Religious figures
Soldiers, agents, spies
- Joan of Arc (1412-1431), military leader
- Denise Bloch (1915-1945), SOE agent
- Edith Cavell (1865-1915), World War I heroine
- Julia Child (born 1912), chef
- Tomoe Gozen, (original, not fictitious)
- Mata Hari (1876-1917), (spy)
- Marina Raskova (1912-1943), Russian aviator in World War II
- Odette Sansom (1912-1995), SOE agent
- Hannah Szenes (1921-1944), SOE agent
- Countess Krystyna Skarbek (1915-1952), SOE agent
- Violette Szabo, (1921-1945), SOE agent
- Harriet Tubman, (1820-1913), rebel, spy, activist
- Nancy Wake, (born 1912), most decorated Allied servicewoman of WW II
Famous actors
- Lucille Ball, (1911-1989)
- Tallulah Bankhead, (1902-1968)
- Ingrid Bergman, (1915-1982)
- Sarah Bernhardt, (1844-1923)
- Bette Davis, (1908-1989)
- Judy Dench
- Mia Farrow, (1945-1963)
- Jodie Foster, (born 1962)
- Greta Garbo, (1905-1990)
- Ava Gardner, (1922-1990)
- Katherine Hepburn, (born 1907)
- Helen Hunt, (born 1963)
- Grace Kelly, (1929-1982)
- Nicole Kidman, (born 1967)
- Vivien Leigh, (1913-1967)
- Sophia Loren, (born 1934)
- Marilyn Monroe, (1926-1962)
- Mary Pickford, (1892-1979)
- Isabella Rossellini, (1952-1983 ??)
- Meryl Streep, (born 1949)
- Reese Witherspoon, (born 1976)
See list List of female actors
Sportswomen
Famous models (most are female)
Other
- Rosa Mustafa Abdulkhaleq, (born 1976), first female commercial pilot in Yemen
- Gladys Aylward {missionary}
- James Barry, (1795?-1865), Victorian lady who worked as a male physician
- Dorothea Beale (pioneer of women's education)
- Margaret Bourke-White, (born 1906)
- Frances Buss(pioneer of women's education)
- Coco Chanel, (1883-1971), (fashion designer)
- Jacqueline Cochran (1906-1980), aviatrix
- Bessie Coleman (aviator)
- Amelia Earhart, (1897-1937), (aviator)
- Lillian Hellman, (1905-1984)
- Amy Johnson, (1903-1941), (aviator)
- Helen Keller, (1880-1968)
- Kathleen Kenyon, (1906-1978), (archaeologist)
- Maria Montessori, (1870-1952)
- Julia Morgan (architect)
- Hanna Reitsch, (1912-1979), (German aviator)
- Leni Riefenstahl, (1902-2003), (German movie director)
- Emily Warren Roebling (engineer)
- Valentina Tereshkova, (born 1937), cosmonaut
- Billy Tipton, (1914-1989), (musician)
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