Inspirational women in history - who's yours?

[HecateTrivia]

My son has to research and do a biography of an inspirational woman in history. I wondered who you feel inspired by?

Florence Nightingale
not because she was the lady of the lamp
but because she WOULD NOT GIVE UP till decent hospitals were accepted as a good idea

ooooo yease...Florence

Also...Mother Theresa

Marie curie or henrietta lacks. Henrietta Lacks was someone I had never heard of until I read the book by rebecca skloot-her story is amazing.

my flippin' ex MIL

she is rock 'ard

And Wonder Woman (she is real)

Anne Bonney

Catherine Booth - wife of Salvation Army founder William Booth.

I have read a few books about her and I just get this impression that she was a force to be reckoned with. Something steely underneath that navy bonnet.

A few ideas here
womenshistory.about.com/od/biographies/u/biographies_women.htm

Clara Zetkin

Feminist and socialist. Unionist and radical, expelled from Germany by Hitler because she refused to "calm down dear"

Harriet Tubman. Amazing woman.

Josephine Butler doesn't get enough mention, she is one of my favourites (will be back with many more)

Violette Szabo - because she illustrated that courage and sacrifice is not simply the prerogative of men.

Emmeline & Christabel Pankhurst - obviously women's suffrage
Sylvia Pankhurst - the above plus lots more!
Vera Brittain - WW1 nurse, author, social reformer, mother of Shirley Williams
Beatrice Webb - founder of the Fabian Scoiety, socialist
Maria Montessori - doctor, educationalist
Elizabeth Fry - prison reformer
Hildegard of Bingen -writer, musician, political adviser
Nefertiti - Egyptian Queen
Boudicca - British Queen

I'm sure there are loads more but I can't think of them now!

Silly question maybe how do you pronounce Kosmodenyanksaya? Znaika.

I wonder where Julia Scurr is?

Bess of Hardwick ran a business empire in the 16th Century. She built the original Chatsworth.

Mother Teresa,
Marie Currie
Hatshepsut
Cleopatra
Nefertiti

Mary Anning
Mary magdalene
Helen of troy
Indira Gandhi
Queen Victoria
Joan of arc
Mary antoinette

Aung San Suu Kyi

Sorry I read this as influential. In term if inspirational, the it's got to be mother Teresa and Mary Anning. Started from nothing and did a lot of good. Changed
The way society thinks. Of course, and all the Pankhurst ladies...

Widowwad, totally agree. How can we forget? Should be at top of list. I also think Angela Merkel is cool.

I second Corrie Ten Boom.

She helped Jews hide and then escape from the Nazis in Holland during WW2. She was caught and she and her sister were sent to Ravensbruck. Her sister (Betsie) was beaten by a guard. Betise died there.

Corrie survived and forgave the guard.

Caroline Norton The chapter on her life in the book Significant Sisters is well worth reading to see how far we've come, how much effort is needed to change the status quo and yet what important ripples can be caused by the dedication of one person (andthose they bring along with them). She wasn't perfect (who is?) but her spirit and fight were immense. I would love to know what she would think of the world as it is now.

"Primarily because of Caroline's intense campaigning, Parliament passed the Custody of Infants Act 1839 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857.The Matrimonial Causes Act allowed married women to inherit property and take court action on their own behalf, while the Custod of Children Act granted mothers limited custodial rights over minor children."

Millicent Fawcett - but I guess she's too moderate for some people here...

What's wrong with finding Millicent Fawcett inspirational?