Mary Wollstonecraft
Her fiery 1792 manifesto argued that women are not ornaments for men but rational beings deserving education and public life.
1759–1797 (age 38)·English writer and philosopher·Birthday: April 27
Biography
Mary Wollstonecraft's life was a radical experiment in living against the grain of 18th-century England. Born into a family diminished by her father's squandering, she educated herself and carved a path through writing, working as a translator, reviewer, and governess. Her seminal work, 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,' was a philosophical thunderclap that challenged Rousseau and others, insisting that women's apparent weakness was a product of stifling education, not nature. Her personal life was equally defiant, including a passionate affair with the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay and a later marriage to philosopher William Godwin. She died days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary, who would later write 'Frankenstein.' Wollstonecraft's legacy, once overshadowed by scandalized biographies, was resurrected as the intellectual bedrock of modern feminism.
#1 When Mary Was Born
The biggest hits of 1759
Mary's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1759Born
1764Started school
1772Became a teenager
1775Could drive
1777Could vote
1780Turned 21
1789Turned 30
1797Died at 38
Key Achievements
- Published 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792), a foundational text of feminist philosophy.
- Argued for the co-education of boys and girls in her pioneering work on women's rights.
- Worked as a translator and reviewer for the analytical publisher Joseph Johnson, engaging with Enlightenment thinkers.
- Wrote 'Thoughts on the Education of Daughters' (1787), establishing her early focus on women's intellectual development.
Did You Know?
Her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, became the novelist Mary Shelley, author of 'Frankenstein.'
She traveled to revolutionary Paris in 1792 to witness the French Revolution firsthand.
She attempted suicide twice after being abandoned by her lover, Gilbert Imlay.
Her husband, William Godwin, published a candid memoir of her life after her death, which initially damaged her reputation.
“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”
