Women have been philosophers, teachers, writers, theorists, and all-around thinkers and educators for millennia. Historians, however, have often ignored these amazing women. Here is just a sampling in these amazing, intelligent women from all over the world. Don't forget to scroll down.
Mary McCleod Bethune was an important African American educator, civil rights leader, women's rights advocate, and government official. The daughter of former slaves, Bethune knew the importance of education and took advantage of the opportunities presented to her. Bethune originally planned to be a missionary, but when no church would sponsor her, she became an educator in South Carolina, where she met her husband, a fellow educator. The family moved to Florida, where the marriage dissolved, and Bethune opened a boarding school, the Daytona Beach Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls, in order to provide income for her and her infant son. Eventually, the school became well-known and morphed into a college when it merged with the all-male Cookman Institute to form Bethune-Cookman College in 1929. The new college issued its first degrees in 1943. In addition, in 1924, she was elected president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and in 1935, she became the founding president of the National Council of Negro Women. Bethune also played a role in the transition of Black voters from the Republican Party—“the party of Lincoln”—to the Democratic Party during the Great Depression. A friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1936, Bethune became the highest ranking African American woman in government when President Franklin Roosevelt named her director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, where she remained until 1944. She was also a leader of FDR’s unofficial “black cabinet.” In 1937, Bethune organized a conference on the Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth, and fought to end discrimination and lynching. In 1940, she became vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP), a position she held for the rest of her life. As a member of the advisory board that in 1942 created the Women’s Army Corps, Bethune ensured it was racially integrated. Appointed by President Harry S. Truman, Bethune was the only woman of color at the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945. She regularly wrote for the leading African American newspapers, the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender. Additionally, Bethune was a businesswoman who co-owned a Daytona, Florida resort and co-founded the Central Life Insurance Company of Tampa. Honored with many awards, Bethune’s life was celebrated with a memorial statue in Washington DC in 1974, and a postage stamp in 1985. Her final residence is a National Historic Site. On July 13, 2022, Bethune became the first African American to be represented with a state statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol.
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Mary McLeod Bethune - National Women's History Museum
Mary McLeod Bethune - National Park Service
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, better known as Madame de Staël, is credited with bringing Romanticism to France through her work De l’Allemagne (translated as On Germany). She was a writer in her own right, publishing many works of Romantic Era literature, as well as treatises and essays on politics and philosophy. Yet, she was perhaps best known during her lifetime for her intellect that she showcased at her literary salon, a salon which drew eminent writers and scholars from all over Europe and the colonies in America. She was politically centrist and believed in the ideals of the French Revolution (liberty, brotherhood, and equality), but she did not support the bloody aspects of the revolution. De Staël was also famously opposed to Napoleon, and he had her exiled, although she only went as far as her country estate near the border of France. She was an important literary and political figure who lived life on her own terms and has become a feminist icon.
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Germaine de Staël - Library of Congress Research Guides
Germaine de Staël: A Political Portrait - Introduction - Princeton University
Lady Murasaki Shikibu (whose real name is unknown) is most noted for her novel, Tale of the Genji. This work is often considered to be the first full novel of the modern world, and it was written by a woman. Murasaki was born in Kyōto, Japan to a junior branch of the great Fujiwara family, and many people from this family held influential positions at court or were noted scholars. She was well-educated in both Japanese and Chinese literature, which was unusual for a girl during the time period within which she lived, and she proved herself so intelligent that her father reportedly wondered why she couldn't have been born a boy. After being widowed early in life, and with a young daughter to raise, Murasaki had to search for a new place in society and became a companion and favorite of Empress Akiko, who shared the lady's passion for learning. Historians believe that this connection allowed her the access to court life that she needed in order to pen her famous work. Historians also believe that she wrote the work between 1000 and 1005 BCE, although some contend that it wasn't completed until 1010 BCE. There is also evidence that she wrote the work at the Temple of Ishiyama. Regardless of when and where she wrote the text, it was unique and created a new genre that historian William George Aston called, "the prose epic of real life." This remarkable work solidified her place in history.
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The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu - University of Pennsylvania
Book 3: Chapter IV: "Genji Monogatari" - A History of Japanese Literature by William George Aston
Murasaki Shikibu: Japanese Courtier and Author - Britannica
Hypatia, the daughter of Theon of Alexandria (known for his work in mathematics and astronomy), was one of the first women in the Western World to study openly (although many had studied in secret) subjects that were usually reserved for men, and she did so with her family's blessing. She excelled at mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy and was a regular at the new Library of Alexandria. She is credited with commentaries on Apollonius of Perga’s Conics (which deals with geometry) and Diophantus of Alexandria’s Arithmetic (which deals with number theory), as well as an astronomical table (which was possibly a revised version of Book III of her father’s commentary on the Almagest). Steeped in Greek tradition, Hypatia was a Neoplatonist scholar who still believed in the old gods at a time when Christianity was taking hold in Europe and parts of the Middle East. She would often give public lectures, which, unfortunately, put her in danger. She met a grizzly end at the hands of Christian zealots who decided to silence her by brutally murdering her. Yet, her memory lives, and she has often been used as a feminist icon and symbol.
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"Hypatia, Ancient Alexandria’s Great Female Scholar: An Avowed Paganist in a Time of Religious Strife, Hypatia Was Also One of the First Women to Study Math, Astronomy and Philosophy" - Smithsonian Magazine
Hypatia: Mathemetician and Astronomer - Britannica
Gargi Vachaknavi was an Indian sage and philosopher who lived sometime between 800-500 BCE. The daughter of Sage Vachaknu in the lineage of Sage Garga, her family was well-versed in Vedic scriptures. She showed intellectual acumen early in her life, and she became a master debater and most likely the creator of some the most ancient Hindu documents in Vedic Sanskrit. In fact, her intellect was such that Vachaknavi reportedly participated in a debate organized by King Janaka of Videha. During the debate, she was said to have challenged the sage Yajnavalkya by asking him difficult questions on the issue of the soul that stymied him, and he was very impressed with her intelligence. This exchange was foundational to the text Yoga Yajnavalkya. Her character also appears in the Grihya Sutras of Asvalayana. She is even honored in Vedic literature as not just an enthusiastic promoter of the Vedas, but also as a natural philosopher and was bestowed with the title of Brahmavadini. She is credited with writing several hymns in the Rigveda, one of the ancient Hindu documents that is foundational to the religion. Scholars maintain that she led a celebate life as befitting one who focused on matters beyond the body, and she was held in veneration by both her contemporaries, earning the revered status as one of the Navaratnas (nine gems) in the court of King Janaka of Mithila, but also by modern Hindus.
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Gargi Vachaknavi: A Storied Sage of Ancient India - Hindu Temple Talk
The Ferocious Tale Of Gargi - This Day
Fatima al-Fihriya is credited with launching the modern university system when she founded the University of al-Qarawiyyin in what is the modern day city of Fez in Morocco. It was the first institution of its kind in the modern world and is the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world. A Muslim woman born into a wealthy merchant family in Tunisia, al-Fihriya and her sister were given the best education that money could buy at the time. Eventually, her father moved the family business to Fez, and when al-Fihriya's father died, she and her sister inherited the business. Together, the two decided to use some of their money to build a mosque which evolved into an educational institution over time. This became the University of al-Qarawiyyin where scholars could study Islamic law, theology, the Arabic language and literature, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and music. The reputation of the university was such that it drew many renowned scholars, such as Ibn Khaldun (considered by some to be the father of sociology, historiography, and economics), and students came from as far afield as Spain to study within its walls. The institution became a private institution for a few years, but it later became a public institution and remains public to this day.
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"Fatima al-Fihri The Founder Of Universities As We Know Them Today" - The Seattle Medium
Fatima al-Fihri - Founder of World's Oldest still Operating University (shared via LinkedIn)
Juana de Asuaje y Ramírez de Santillana, better known Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz was a nun, poet, playwright, and scholar. She was a child prodigy who could read at the age of three and was largely self-taught. In fact, she began writing poetry by age eight. When de la Cruz turned sixteen, she went to live with her aunt in Mexico City so that she could continue her studies. When de la Cruz came of age, her aunt and uncle presented her to the court of the Viceroy Marquis de Mancera, and she became a companion for the Viceroy's wife, Vicereine Leonor Carreto. While at court, her intelligence became apparent, and reportedly, the viceroy decided to test that intelligence by bringing together a panel of eminent scholars to test her knowledge of history, mythology, and literature. She aced this impromptu test, but the young woman did not like court life. She also had no wish to marry and wanted to continue her studies rather than take on the duties of a wife and mother. One of the only other avenues available for her to do so was to become nun, and this was the path that she chose. De la Cruz was a staunch proponent of education for women, and she became famous (or infamous, depending on one's point of view) for writing a letter to the bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz. In this letter, she criticized the sermon of a Jesuit priest, and the bishop circulated this letter under the pseudonym, "Sor Filotea." The bishop criticized her for not including enough religious content, and true to form, she wrote a response to her own letter, using the same pseudonym. Her "Respuesta a Sor Filotea” (“Response to Sister Filotea”) is sometimes considered the first feminist manifesto, but most certainly it was one of the first in Mexican colonial history. In this letter, she defended a woman’s right to education, as well as many other rights, and this enraged the leadership of the church, leading to the removal of non-religious items from her quarters. In protest, she refused to produce anymore scholarly works. Prior to that refusal, however, she created new poetic forms that became standards for poetry and experimented with various dramatic techniques. She was also possibly a lesbian, as some of her poems have rather steamy content directed at a woman (and this may have also accounted for her reluctance to marry). She died when the plague raced through her convent.
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Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - Poetry Foundation
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - Academy of American Poets
Enheduanna (meaning High Priestess of An (the sky god) or En-Priestess, wife of the god Nanna) was an Akkadian-born high priestess and is thought to be the world's first known author, meaning of the surviving manuscripts that exist in the world, hers is the first name that appears. There are manuscripts older than hers, but they do not bear the author's name, so she is considered the first known author in the world (not just female author, but author, period). She was referred to as the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, but historians are not sure if she was actually a daughter by blood or if this was a title given to her due to her status. She was elevated to the office of the high priestess in the most important temple in the Sumerian city of Ur. She survived rebellions and even a coup attempt that caused her to go into exile for a short period of time. Enheduanna served as the high priestess for forty years and ushered in a period of religious stability that helped hold an ornery kingdom together. In her position, she wrote poetry, psalms, and prayers both to Sumerian and Akkadian gods, helping to meld the two belief systems. The styles that she used for her writings became models, and many of them are still used by religions to this day.
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