famous women in history

Especially 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:

Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom)
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, Byzantine empress
Zoe, Byzantine empress
Irene, Byzantine empress
Theodora, Byzantine empress
Wu Zetian, Empress of China
Melisende of Jerusalem (Queen of Jerusalem)
Sibylla of Jerusalem (Queen of Jerusalem)
Isabella of Jerusalem (Queen of Jerusalem)
Agnes of Courtenay (Queen of Jerusalem)
Yolande of Jerusalem (Queen of Jerusalem)
Yolanda of Flanders (Latin empress
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'Estre, (1571-1599), (France)
Agns 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/Poland)
Marie Antoinette, (1755-1793), (France)

Politicians, political figures

Madeleine Albright, (born 1937), – United States
Corazon Aquino, (born 1933), – Philippines
Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, (1879-1964), – United Kingdom
Aung San Suu Kyi, (born 1945), – Myanmar
Cherie K. Berry, – United States
Benazir Bhutto, (born 1953), – Pakistan
Gro Harlem Brundtland, (born 1939), – Norway
Kim Campbell, (born 1947), 1st female prime minister of Canada
Maria Cantwell, (born 1958), – United States
Hattie Caraway, (1878-1950), 1st woman elected to US Senate
Sarah Churchill
Tansu iller, (born 1946), 1st female prime minister of Turkey
Helen Clark, (born 1950)
Elisabeth Domitien, (born 1926), 1st female prime minister of an African country
Vigds Finnbogadttir, (born 1930), – Iceland
Indira Gandhi, (1917-1984), – India
Sonia Gandhi – India
Tarja Halonen, (born 1943), – Finland
Petra Kelly, (1947-1992), (Germany)
Alexandra Kollontai – Soviet Union
Blanche Lambert Lincoln, (born 1960), – United States
Constance Markiewicz (ne Gore-Booth) (1868-1927) - Ireland
Golda Meir, (1898-1978), – Israel
Eva Pern, (1919-1952), – Argentina
Janet Reno, (born 1938), – United States
Condoleezza Rice (born 1954), United States
Mary Robinson, (1990-1997), Ireland
Eleanor Roosevelt, (1884-1962), United States
Margaret Chase Smith, (1897-1995), – US congresswoman
Debbie Stabenow, (born 1950), – United States
Margaret Thatcher, (born 1925), – United Kingdom
The Valiant Five – Canadian politicians and activists

Nellie McClung

Activists and revolutionaries

Susan B. Anthony, (1820-1906), – United States
Annie Besant, (1847-1933) – United Kingdom
Marguerite Durand (1864-1936) - France
Millicent Fawcett, (1847-1929) – United Kingdom
Emma Goldman, (1869-1940)
Rosa Luxemburg, (1871-1919), – Germany
Rigoberta Mench, (born 1959) - Guatemala
Louise Michel, 1830-1905 - France
Lucretia Mott, (1793-1880) – United States
Madalyn Murray O'Hair – United States
Christabel Pankhurst – United Kingdom
Emmeline Pankhurst, (1858-1928), – United Kingdom
Sylvia Pankhurst, (1882-1960), United Kingdom
Rosa Parks, (born 1913), – United States
Margaret Sanger, (1879-1966) – United States
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, (1815-1902) – United States
Gloria Steinem, (born 1935) – United States
Flora Tristan, (1803-1844)
Sojourner Truth, (1797?-1883) – United States
Tončka Čeč, (1896-1943), Slovene national heroine

Artists, writers, poets

Emma Abbott, (1849-1891)
Anna Akhmatova, (1889-1966), (poet)
Isabel Allende, (born 1942), (writer)
Jane Austen, (1775-1817), (writer)
Margaret Atwood, (born 1939), (writer)
Mary Cassatt, (1844-1926), (painter)
Anna Comnena, (writer)
Alexandra David-Nel, (1868-1969)
Rgine Deforges (writer, 1st woman in France to own a Publishing company)
Grazia Deledda, (1871-1936), (writer, Nobel prize)
Karen Blixen, (1885-1962), (writer)
Marguerite Duras (1914-1996)
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
Zora Neale Hurston, (1891-1960), (writer)
Elfriede Jelinek, (born 1946) (writer, Nobel Prize)
Clarice Lispector, (1920-1977), (writer)
Toni Morrison, (born 1931), (writer, Nobel prize)
Ouida, (1839-1908), (writer; a.k.a. Marie Louise de la Ramee)
Georgia O'Keeffe,(1887-1986), (painter)
Mary Pickford, (1892-1979), actress, co-founder of United Artists
Christine de Pizan, (circa 1365-circa 1430), (writer)
Ayn Rand, (1905-1982), (writer)
Sappho (poet)
Nathalie Sarraute (1900-1999), writer
Murasaki Shikibu, (973?-1025?), (writer)
Gertrude Stein, (1874-1946), (writer)
Theano (writer, philosopher)
Marina Tsvetaeva, (1892-1941),(poet)
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)

Aviation and space exploration

Rosa Mustafa Abdulkhaleq (born 1976)
Jackie Cochran (1906-1980)
Bessie Coleman (1892-1926)
Suzanne Upjohn DeLano
Amelia Earhart (1897-1937)
Sabiha Gken, (1913-2001) (1st female aviator of Turkey and 1st female combat pilot of the world)
Nancy Harkness Love, (1914-1976)
Amy Johnson (1903-1941)
Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979)
Sally Ride (born 1951)
Mae Jemison
Svetlana Savitskaya (born 1948)
Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937)
Harriet Quimby (1875-1912)

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), (computer programmer)
Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya - (1850-1891), (mathematician)
Margaret Mead, (1901-1978), (anthropologist)
Lise Meitner, (1878-1968), (physicist)
Emmy Noether, (1882-1935), (mathematician)
Helen Sawyer Hogg
Maria Mayer

Medical notables

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (physician)
Virginia Apgar, (1909-1974), (physician)
Clara Barton, (1821-1912), (nurse, activist)
Elizabeth Blackwell, (1821-1910), (physician)
Jane Delano (1862-1919), founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service
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), (1st female U.S Army surgeon, only female ever awarded the Medal of Honor, activist)