For millennia women have left their mark on the world at times changing the course of history and at other times influencing small but significant spheres of life. Only in the past century however have concerted efforts been made to mention women‘s contributions in history books. Moreover changes in status for many women in modern times - the right to own property to vote and to choose their own careers - may obscure the accomplishments made by women of earlier eras. In profiling 300 women who changed the world Encyclopedia Britannica has chosen those whose contributions have endured through the ages.
Some though they lived centuries ago are still alive in popular culture; music and poetry by the Roman Catholic abbess Hildegard can be heard in contemporary recordings and Murasaki Shiibu‘s The Tale of Genji is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. Many women overcame the oppression of their surroundings through determination and ingenuity: Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and risked her life helping others to freedom. Other women grew up in privileged surroundings; the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia and the historian Ban Zhao were born to families that permitted the education of girls in an era when females were rarely even taught to read.
Not all of these women changed the world for the good. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produced propaganda films that glorified Adolf Hitler‘s brutal Third Reich. Many suffered through the deeds of Jiang Qing who fought bitterly to advance her own political powers during China‘s Cultural Revolution.
Some were warriors such as Boudicca who led a bloody rebellion against the Romans. Others advocated peace: Bertha barones von Suttner influenced the creation of the Nobel Peace Prize that would eventually be won by many women including Wangari Maathai and Mother Teresa. Like Mother Teresa many were driven by religious conviction. Khadijah‘s Khadijah‘s belief in her husband Muhammad‘s revelations helped lay the foundation of Islam. Joan of Arc‘s divine inspiration led the French in a decisive victory against the English. Her feats were celebrated by the poet Christine de Pisan who also penned some of the earliest commentaries on women‘s roles in society.
Learn about 300 women who changed the world - review their accomplishments locate their birthplaces and discover the eras in which they lived. The women‘s topics portray significant issues and dates such as feminism and Mother‘s Day. The timeline tells a general story of women‘s achievements over the course of human history. Select a link in the upper left column to begin.
Categories
- Feminism - A look at the historical development of feminism the thinkers who have shaped it and the political economic and social issues associated with feminist concerns around the world.
- Woman suffrage - A history of women‘s right to vote from its conceptual origins among 18th- and 19th-century thinkers to the campaigns that made woman suffrage an important component of participative democracy.
- The women‘s movement - A review of the late-20th-century social movement highlighting its achievements its origins successes and failures and the debates it enkindled.
- National Women‘s History Month
- International Women‘s Day
- Mother‘s Day
Product Features
Pivotal Women‘s Topics
From suffrage to feminism to the women‘s movement learn how these issues have evolved over time and what their impact has been on politics the economy and society.
In Their Own Words
Read essays speeches and other works by these accomplished women including poems by Emily Dickinson Maria Montessori‘s theory on education former president of Ireland Mary Robinson‘s comments on children and human rights and Florence Nightingale‘s Notes on Nursing.
Multimedia and Learning Activities
View video clips that capture key moments in women‘s history take quizzes that test your knowledge and use learning activities that bring women‘s contributions to life.
Includes
Women Who Changed the World from Africa & the Middle East:
- Adamson Joy
- ‘A‘ishah
- Ashrawi Hanan
- Bryceland Yvonne
- Ciller Tansu
- Cixous Hel?ne
- Cleopatra
- Dinesen Isak
- Djebar Assia
- Ebadi Shirin
- Evora Cesaria
- Fatimah
- Fossey Dian
- Goodall Jane
- Gordimer Nadine
- Hatshepsut
- Helena Saint
- Hypatia
- Khadijah
- Khansa‘ al-
- Leakey Mary Douglas
- Maathai Wangari
- Madikizela-Mandela Winnie
- Makeba Miriam
- Mary (mother of Jesus)
- Mary Magdalene Saint
- Meir Golda
- Nefertiti
- Perpetua
- Sheba Queen of
- Suzman Helen
- Umm Kulthum
Woman Who Changed the World from The Americas:
- Adams Abigail
- Addams Jane
- Albright Madeleine
- Anthony Susan B.
- Apgar Virginia
- Arbus Diane
- Arendt Hannah
- Arzner Dorothy
- Baez Joan
- Ball Lucille
- Bickerdyke Mary Ann
- Blackwell Elizabeth
- Bradstreet Anne
- Burbidge Margaret
- Butcher Susan
- Cabrera Lydia
- Calkins Mary Whiton
- Campbell Kim
- Cannon Annie Jump
- Caraway Hattie Ophelia
- Carson Rachel
- Cassatt Mary
- Chamorro Violeta Barrios de
- Charles Eugenia
- Child Julia
- Chisholm Shirley
- Clinton Hillary Rodham
- Collins Eileen
- Cori Gerty
- Cruz Sor Juana Ines de la
- Davis Bette
- Deren Maya
- Dickinson Emily
- Dietrich Marlene
- Dix Dorothea Lynde
- Duncan Isadora
- Dunham Katherine
- Dworkin Andrea
- Earhart Amelia
- Eddy Mary Baker
- Ederle Gertrude
- Elion Gertrude B.
- Fitzgerald Ella
- Fleming Williamina Paton Stevens
- Fossey Dian
- Franklin Aretha
- Friedan Betty
- Garbo Greta
- Gilman Charlotte Anna Perkins
- insburg Ruth Bader
- Goldman Emma
- G?mez de Avellaneda Gertrudis
- Graham Martha
- Grandin Temple
- Grimke Sarah; and Grimke Angelina
- Guy-Blache Alice
- Hamm Mia
- Henie Sonja
- Hepburn Katharine
- Hopper Grace Murray
- Horney Karen
- Hurston Zora Neale
- Hutchinson Anne
- Ibarbourou Juana de
- Jacobs Jane
- Joyner-Kersee Jackie
- Kahlo Frida
- Keller Helen
- Kirkpatrick Jeane
- Knight Margaret E.
- Krim Mathilde
- Krone Julie
- Lamarr Hedy
- Langer Susanne K.
- Leavitt Henrietta Swan
- Lee Ann
- Levi-Montalcini Rita
- Liliuokalani
- Lispector Clarice
- MacKinnon Catharine A.
- Madonna
- Marble Alice
- Mayer Maria Goeppert
- McClintock Barbara
- McPherson Aimee Semple
- Mead Margaret
- Mench? Rigoberta
- Mistral Gabriela
- Mitchell Joni
- Mitchell Maria
- Monroe Marilyn
- Morrison Toni
- Munro Alice
- Navratilova Martina
- Nevelson Louise
- Oates Joyce Carol
- O‘Connor Sandra Day
- Onassis Jacqueline Kennedy
- Parks Rosa
- Perkins Frances
- Per?n Eva
- Pocahontas
- Post Emily
- Rankin Jeannette
- Reno Janet
- Rice Condoleezza
- Ride Sally
- Roosevelt Eleanor
- Sacagawea
- Sanger Margaret
- Smith Bessie
- Stanton Elizabeth Cady
- Steinem Gloria
- Stern Elizabeth
- Stewart Martha
- Truth Sojourner
- Tubman Harriet
- Walker Sarah Breedlove
- Wheatley Phillis
- Whitney Mary Watson
- Willard Frances
- Williams Jody
- Winfrey Oprah
- Winnemucca Sarah
- Woodhull Victoria
- Yalow Rosalyn S.
- Zaharias Babe Didrikson
Woman Who Changed the World from Asia and the Pacific:
- Aquino Corazon
- Aung San Suu Kyi
- Ban Zhao
- Bandaranaike Sirimavo R.D.
- Bhutto Benazir
- Cixi
- Clark Helen
- Deng Yingchao
- Ding Ling
- Doi Takako
- Fraser Dawn
- Gandhi Indira
- Gaohou
- Hojo Masako
- Jiang Qing
- Kartini Raden Adjeng
- Koken
- Li Qingzhao
- Liliuokalani
- Mira Bai
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Okuni
- Pandit Vijaya Lakshmi
- Sei Shonagon
- Sheppard Kate
- Shipley Jennifer
- Song Qingling
- Soong Mei-ling
- Sukarnoputri Megawati
- Sutherland Dame Joan
- Te Kanawa Dame Kiri
- Teresa Mother
- Walker Kath
- Wu Hou
- Yang Guifei
Woman Who Changed the World from Europe:
- Adelaide Saint
- Aethelflaed
- Agnesi Maria Gaetana
- Akhmatova Anna
- Albright Madeleine
- Anna Comnena
- Asclepigenia
- Austen Jane
- Beauvoir Simone de
- Bell Gertrude
- Bernadette of Lourdes Saint
- Bernhardt Sarah
- Blackwell Elizabeth
- Blankers-Koen Fanny
- Boudicca
- Boulanger Nadia
- Bradstreet Anne
- Bridget of Sweden Saint
- Bront? Charlotte
- Bront? Emily
- Brundtland Gro Harlem
- Burbidge Margaret
- C?slavsk? Vera
- Catherine II
- Catherine de Medicis
- Catherine of Aragon
- Catherine of Siena Saint
- Cecilia Saint
- Chanel Gabrielle
- Christina
- Christine de Pisan
- Churchill Caryl
- Cixous Hel?ne
- Clare of Assisi Saint
- Clotilda Saint
- Colette
- Constance
- Cori Gerty
- Curie Marie
- Deneuve Catherine
- Deren Maya
- Diana princess of Wales
- Dietrich Marlene
- Dinesen Isak
- Droste-H?lshoff Annette baroness von
- Duncan Isadora
- Eleanor of Aquitaine
- Eliot George
- Elizabeth I
- Elizabeth II
- Finnbogad?ttir Vigd?s
- Fontana Lavinia
- F?rster-Nietzsche Elisabeth
- Frank Anne
- Franklin Rosalind
- Fredegund
- Garbo Greta
- Gentileschi Artemisia
- Goldman Emma
- G?mez de Avellaneda Gertrudis
- Goodall Jane
- Guy-Blache Alice
- Henie Sonja
- Herschel Caroline Lucretia
- Hildegard Saint
- Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot
- Horney Karen
- Hrosvitha
- Hutchinson Anne
- Irene
- Irigaray Luce
- Isabella I
- Jekyll Gertrude
- Joan of Arc Saint
- Joliot-Curie Ir?ne
- Julian of Norwich
- Kempe Margery
- Kenyon Dame Kathleen
- Kollwitz K?the
- Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilyevna
- Krim Mathilde
- Kristeva Julia
- Lamarr Hedy
- Leakey Mary Douglas
- Lee Ann
- Lenglen Suzanne
- Levi-Montalcini Rita
- Leyster Judith
- Loren Sophia
- Lovelace Augusta Ada King countess of
- Luxemburg Rosa
- Margaret I
- Maria Theresa
- Marie-Antoinette
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Mata Hari
- Matilda of Canossa
- Mayer Maria Goeppert
- Meitner Lise
- Mercouri Melina
- Montessori Maria
- Murdoch Dame Iris
- Navratilova Martina
- Nightingale Florence
- Noether Emmy
- N?sslein-Volhard Christiane
- Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette
- Pankhurst Emmeline
- Pavlova Anna
- Piaf Edith
- Polgar Judit
- Polgar Zsuzsa
- Potter Beatrix
- Radegunda Saint
- Riefenstahl Leni
- Robinson Joan
- Robinson Mary
- Rowling J.K.
- Sand George
- Sappho
- Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft
- Sheppard Kate
- Sta?l Germaine de
- Stopes Marie Charlotte Carmichael
- Sutherland Dame Joan
- Suttner Bertha baroness von
- Szymborska Wislawa
- Teresa Mother
- Teresa of ?vila Saint
- Tereshkova Valentina
- Thatcher Margaret
- Theodora
- Victoria
- Vigee-Lebrun elisabeth
- Weil Simone
- Wollstonecraft Mary
- Woodhull Victoria
- Woolf Virginia
- Zoe
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