PRESENTACIÓN BÁSICA

Hilda of Whitby (also known as Saint Hilda of Whitby, l. 614-680 CE) was the founder and abbess of the monastery at Whitby, Kingdom of Northumbria, Britain. She was a Northumbrian princess who converted to Christianity with the rest of the court of her great-uncle, King Edwin of Deira (r. 616-633 CE), when she was 13.

The Italian scholar Isotta Nogarola (1418–1466) is considered the first major female humanist. "Humanism" is the modern term for the intellectual movement that initiated the Renaissance. The humanist movement originated in Florence, Italy, in the mid-1300s and was introduced into other European countries shortly before 1500.

Hydna of Scione Hydna of Scione was trained to swim by her father, Scyllis of Scione, a diving instructor and expert swimmer who taught the art of swimming for a living.

Christine de Pisan, (born 1364, Venice [Italy]—died c. 1430), prolific and versatile French poet and author whose diverse writings include numerous poems of courtly love, a biography of Charles V of France, and several works championing women.

Theodora reigned as empress of the Byzantine Empire alongside her husband, Emperor Justinian I, from 527 CE until her death in 548 CE. Rising from a humble background and overcoming the prejudices of her somewhat disreputable early career as an actress, Theodora would marry Justinian (r. 527-565 CE) in 525 CE and they would rule together in a golden period of Byzantine history.

Anyte of Tegea Anyte of Tegea (3rd century BCE) was one of the female poets listed by Antipater of Thessalonica as one of the Nine Earthly Muses (with others such as Sappho of Lesbos and Telesilla of Argos).

Mercy Otis Warren

Called a “real genius” and “the most accomplished woman in America” by her good friend John Adams, Mercy Otis Warren was born into an intellectual, political family in West Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1728. As an adult, she moved to Plymouth, raised five sons, and was by all accounts an elegant, genteel woman of impeccable manners and taste.

Anne Conway’s Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy is a highly original work and one well ahead of its time. Capturing Conway’s frustrations with Cartesian dualism, this treatise, originally published in Latin, describes a unique metaphysics that sees mind and body as inextricably commingled, with differences between them emerging only gradually or incrementally.

According to the philosopher Ruth Hagengruber, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet, was concerned with no less than “the re-examination of the Bible, the rewriting of Newtonian physics, and also with outlining a new methodology for philosophy and science.” An aristocrat married off to a marquis at the age of eighteen, du Châtelet was one of the few women schooled in calculus.

It was a steaming July day in Paris in 1792. In the midst of a meeting of the revolutionary Legislative Assembly, a beautiful, unknown black-haired woman with the mannerisms and rich voice of a seasoned performer stood up to speak:

Claire Lacombe

in 1881 Jane Addams was graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary, the valedictorian of a class of seventeen, but was granted the bachelor’s degree only after the school became accredited the next year as Rockford College for Women. In the course of the next six years she began the study of medicine but left it because of poor health, was hospitalized intermittently, traveled and studied in Europe for twenty-one months, and then spent almost two years in reading and writing and in considering what her future objectives should be.

Princess Diana became Lady Diana Spencer after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She married the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, on July 29, 1981. They had two sons and later divorced in 1996. Diana died on August 31, 1997, from injuries she sustained in a car crash in Paris. She is remembered as the "People's Princess" because of her widespread popularity and global humanitarian efforts.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist for female education, and in 2014 at the age of 17 she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As a young girl, Yousafzai defied the local Taliban in Pakistan and spoke out after girls were banned from attending school. A death threat was issued against her and in 2012, she was shot on her way home from school. She survived this and went on to give a speech to the United Nations and publish her first book “I Am Malala,” which became an international bestseller.

Michelle Obama is the ultimate female role model. Aside from being America’s first African-American first lady, she excelled in academics, studied at Princeton and Harvard, and is known for leading campaigns against childhood obesity and supporting education opportunities for women.