Prominent women in the history of the world. The most famous women

They have amazing fortitude, are not afraid to take risks and are certainly ahead of their time. They delight, fascinate, change consciousness and history as a whole - 33 women who changed the world.

And if suddenly you lack inspiration right now, let their stories become the source of that very charge of energy with which you can achieve no less success.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie

French experimental scientist of Polish origin, teacher, public figure. Known for her research in the field of radioactivity, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics and chemistry, the first double Nobel laureate in history.

Margaret Hamilton

She was the lead software engineer on the Apollo manned lunar mission project, and in the photo above she stands in front of a printout of the code for the Apollo flight computer, much of which she wrote and revised herself.

Katrin Schwitzer

American writer and television commentator, best known as the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon. The photo shows how difficult it was for her. A representative from the marathon organizers tried to force her away from the course and, according to Switzer, demanded that she “return her number and get the hell out of his marathon.” Photos of this incident appeared on the front pages of the world's leading publications.

Valentina Tereshkova

The world's first female astronaut to fly solo. The flight on the Vostok-6 spacecraft lasted almost three days. By the way, Tereshkova told her family that she was leaving for a parachute competition; they learned about the flight from the news on the radio.

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Kate Sheppard

Leader of the suffrage movement in New Zealand. It was New Zealand that became the first country where suffragists achieved success: in 1893, women received the right to vote in elections.

Amelia Earhart

American writer and aviation pioneer who became the first female pilot to fly the Atlantic Ocean, for which Amelia was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. She wrote several best-selling books about her flights, and also was one of the founders of the Ninety-Nine organization of women pilots and was elected its first president.

Kamako Kimura

Famous Japanese suffragette and activist. In this photo, Kamako Kimura is captured at a march in New York dedicated to the fight for women's right to vote. October 23, 1917.

Elisa Zimfirescu

Along with the Irish Alice Perry, the Romanian Elisa Zimfirescu is considered one of the first female engineers in the world. Due to prejudice against women in science, Zamfirescu was not accepted into the National School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest. But Eliza did not give up on her dream and in 1909 she entered the Academy of Technology in Berlin. Eliza led several studies that helped find new sources of coal and natural gas.

Rosa Lee Parks

American public figure, founder of the movement for the rights of black citizens of the United States. During a bus ride in Montgomery on December 1, 1955, Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white passenger in the colored section of the bus at the driver's request after all the seats in the white section were occupied. This event led to a massive black boycott of public transportation and brought national fame to Rosa Lee Parks. The US Congress honored her with the epithet “Mother of the modern civil rights movement.”

Sofia Ionescu

An outstanding Romanian neurosurgeon, it is generally accepted that Sofia was one of the first female neurosurgeons in the world.

Anne Frank

Maud Wagner

The first known American female tattoo artist. Now, maybe there is nothing outstanding about how densely her body is covered with tattoos, but think for a moment how provocative it looked in 1907!

Nadia Comaneci

World famous Romanian gymnast. From early childhood, Nadia Comaneci was involved in gymnastics and received great pleasure from it. According to the athlete herself, playing sports gave her more opportunities than her peers, because already at the age of 9-10 she had visited many countries of the world. Comaneci made history as a five-time Olympic champion, the first in the history of artistic gymnastics to receive 10 points for her performance.

Sarah Thakral

First woman pilot in Indian history. Sarah received her license at the age of 21.

Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu)

World-famous Catholic nun, founder of the women's monastic congregation "Sisters of the Missionaries of Love", engaged in serving the poor and sick. From the age of 12, Gonja began to dream of monastic service and of going to India to take care of the poor. In 1931, she took monastic vows and took the name Therese in honor of the canonized Carmelite nun Therese of Lisieux. For about 20 years she taught at St. Mary's Girls' School in Calcutta, and in 1946 she received permission to help the poor and disadvantaged - to create schools, shelters, hospitals for the poor and seriously ill people, regardless of their nationality and religion. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her work in helping suffering people.”

Ana Aslan

Romanian researcher who focused her activities on the fight against aging. Aslan founded the only Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Europe in Bucharest and developed a drug for elderly people suffering from arthritis, thanks to which they began to recover - they began to walk, regained strength, flexibility, and were even able to return to work and play sports. Ana also created the drug “Aslavital for children”, intended for the treatment of childhood dementia.

Annette Kellerman

Australian professional swimmer. At the age of 6, Annette was diagnosed with a leg disease and to overcome her disability, her parents enrolled her in a swimming school in Sydney. At the age of 13, her legs were almost normal and at 15 she began swimming competitively. In 1905, 18-year-old Annette became the first woman to dare swim the English Channel. After three unsuccessful attempts, she stated: “I had the stamina, but lacked the brute strength.”. Annette also pushed for women to be allowed to wear a one-piece bathing suit (1907). After this photo, by the way, she was arrested for indecent behavior.

Rita Levi-Montalcini

Italian neuroscientist, Nobel Prize winner, which she received for her discovery of growth factors. She decided to put her life on the altar of science and never regretted her choice, constantly emphasizing that her life was “rich in excellent human relationships, work and hobbies.” The researcher continued to be active after retirement. Rita Levi-Montalcini even established a special charitable foundation to help women from third world countries obtain higher education. She became the first woman admitted to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; and in 2001 she was appointed senator for life of the Italian Republic.

Bertha von Suttner

Austrian leader of the international pacifist movement. In 1889, her book “Down with Arms!” was published. (“Die Waffen nieder”), telling about the life of a young woman whose fate was crippled by the European wars of the 60s. XIX century The world started talking about her as a leading peace activist. At a time when women took almost no part in public life, Suttner, an active peace activist, earned the respect of everyone, including Alfred Nobel, with whom she corresponded, informing him of the activities of pacifist organizations and encouraging him to donate funds to peace efforts. In 1905, Bertha became the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second woman to receive the Nobel Prize.

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Irena Sendler

During World War II, Irena Sendler, an employee of the Warsaw Health Department and a member of the Polish underground organization (under the pseudonym Jolanta), often visited the Warsaw ghetto, where she looked after sick children. Under this cover, she and her comrades took 2,500 children out of the ghetto. Irena Sendler wrote down the data of all rescued children on narrow strips of thin paper and hid this list in a glass bottle. Following an anonymous denunciation, she was sentenced to death in 1943, but was saved. Until the end of the war, Irena Sendler went into hiding, but continued to help Jewish children.

Gertrude Caroline

First woman to swim the English Channel (1926). “Queen of the Waves” - that’s what they called her in the USA. She crossed the channel breaststroke, spending 14 hours 39 minutes.

Hedy Lamarr

Popular in the 1930s and 1940s, she was an Austrian and then American film actress, as well as an inventor. Its story is one that would be accused of implausibility if something like this were written for a feature film: a mysterious Hollywood star originally from Europe and an avant-garde composer (we're talking about George Antile) work together to come up with a new way to encode signals that prevents them from being jammed. Lamarr, whose film career continued after World War II, not only saved many US Navy ships from enemy torpedoes (her technology was rediscovered and widely used in the 1960s, starting with the Cuban missile crisis), but also became the progenitor of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Ada Lovelace

British mathematician, considered the first computer programmer in history. At the very beginning of her studies in mathematics, she met Charles Babage, a mathematician and economist, who connected his life with the idea of ​​​​creating an “analytical engine” - the world’s first digital computer with program control. Humanity had to live for more than a century to understand the great meaning and significance of Babidge’s idea, but Ada immediately appreciated the invention of her good friend and, together with him, tried to justify and show what it promises for humanity. In her hand, programs were written that were strikingly similar to the programs compiled later for the first computers. By the way, Ada is the daughter of the famous poet George Gordon Byron.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

The legendary female sniper in world history comes from Bila Tserkva. During World War II, she took part in battles in Moldova, in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. In June 1942, Lyudmila was seriously wounded, after which she was evacuated and then sent to the United States along with a delegation. During her visit overseas, Pavlichenko attended a reception with US President Franklin Roosevelt and even lived for some time in the White House at the invitation of his wife. Many will forever remember her speech in Chicago: “Gentlemen, I am twenty-five years old. At the front, I had already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you’ve been hiding behind my back for too long?!”

Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin's role in the discovery of the structure of DNA, considered by many to be the key scientific achievement of the 20th century, was downplayed for many decades (due in no small part to Franklin's early death from cancer). Despite the fact that the decision of the Nobel Committee, which deprived Rosalind of her role as a prize and noted only James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, cannot be undone, the truth is the truth: it was Franklin's X-ray diffraction analysis of DNA that became the missing step that made it possible to finally visualize the double helix .

Jane Goodall

The famous English ethological researcher Jane Goodall spent more than 30 years in the jungles of Tanzania in the Gombe Stream Valley, observing the behavior of chimpanzees. She began her research in 1960, when she was 18 years old. At the beginning of her work, she had no assistants and, in order not to leave her alone, her mother went with her to Africa. They pitched a tent on the shore of the lake and Jane bravely began her wonderful research. Then, when the whole world became interested in her data, she developed close contacts with scientists who came to her from different countries. Today Goodall is a UN Ambassador for Peace and a leading primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist from the UK.

Billie Jean King

Famous American tennis player, record holder for the number of victories at the Wimbledon tournament. On her initiative, the World Women's Tennis Association was created with its own calendar and prize money, no less than in men's tennis. Trying to establish equal rights for women in sports, in 1973 King played an exhibition match with the former first racket of the world, 55-year-old Bobby Riggs, who spoke unflatteringly about the level of women's tennis. King won a brilliant victory and literally crushed Riggs. It was from that moment, according to many experts, that tennis became one of the most popular sports among spectators, almost a national religion in the United States.

Rachel Carson

The American biologist Rachel Carson gained worldwide fame with her book “Silent Spring,” dedicated to the harmful effects of pesticides on living organisms. After the publication of the book, Rachel Carson was immediately accused by representatives of the chemical industry and some members of the government of alarmism. She was called a "hysterical woman" who was incompetent to write such books. However, despite these reproaches, the book is considered to be the initiator of the development of a new environmental movement.

Grace Hopper

American scientist and rear admiral of the US Navy. A pioneer in her field, she was one of the first to write programs for the Harvard computer. She also developed the first compiler for a computer programming language and developed the concept of machine-independent programming languages, which led to the creation of COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages. By the way, Grace is credited with popularizing the term debugging to troubleshoot computer problems.

Maria Teresa de Filippis

Italian racing driver. The first woman to become a Formula 1 driver. At the age of 28, she became second in the Italian national circuit racing championship. In 1958, she made her Formula 1 debut, finishing fifth at the Syracuse Grand Prix, a non-racing race. The first championship race for Marie-Therese de Filippis in the same year was the Monaco Grand Prix. She failed to qualify, but she was ahead of many men, including future Formula 1 functionary Bernie Ecclestone.

Anna Lee Fisher

The first mother astronaut. Her daughter Chrisney Ann was just over one year old when she flew on Space Shuttle Discovery as a flight specialist.

Stephanie Kwolek

American chemist of Polish origin who invented Kevlar. Over 40 years of work as a research scientist, she received, according to various sources, from 17 to 28 patents. In 1995, she became the fourth woman to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and in 2003, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani human rights activist. Malala became an activist at age 11, when she began blogging for the BBC about life in the Taliban-occupied city of Mingora. In 2012, they tried to kill her for her activities and statements, but doctors saved the girl. In 2013, she released an autobiography and gave a speech at UN headquarters, and in 2014 she received the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the youngest laureate (17 years old).

5 most famous femme fatales in history

On October 15, 1917, one of the most brilliant seductresses, Mata Hari, was executed. She became famous not only for performing Indian dances professionally, but also for being one of the highest paid courtesans in Europe. Men from all over the world threw jewelry, money, sacrificed titles and lives at her feet. Therefore, for a long time this insidious lady gained the reputation of not just a beautiful woman, but a “femme fatale.”

However, in addition to the fact that one of the most beautiful women in Paris literally drove men crazy, forcing them to shell out quite large sums for her love and affection, she also elicited important information from her influential clients, including state secrets and data on secret government developments . Even many years after the death of this femme fatale, people remember her, talk about her and make films about her. In memory of the beauty and seductress Mata Hari, we decided to remember the 5 most famous femme fatales in history.

So, the second bright “femme fatale” was Cleopatra. This great woman was famous not only for her willpower and the art of persuasion, but there were real legends about her about her ability to persuade the not very accommodating opposite sex to have a frank conversation. Therefore, the charming dark-haired queen of Egypt could well be equated to a host of goddesses.

And although Cleopatra could not be called a beauty (her facial features were far from ideal), despite this, she could take possession of the mind of any man, seduce and subjugate her to her will. According to historians, this woman possessed a certain love magnetism and the art of seduction. She skillfully used her charms and achieved her goal. So, Cleopatra had to seduce the famous dictator Julius Caesar in order to get the throne of the Egyptian queen. She seduced the successor of King Mark Anthony and helped her son become heir to the throne, and most importantly, she contributed to the development of Egyptian history.

The third famous “femme fatale in history” was the philosopher, writer and psychotherapist Louise Gustavovna Salome. This woman did not pass by such creative personalities as Freud, Nietzsche, Rilke and others without a trace. And all these men were in love with a flirtatious lady who was interested exclusively in intellectual conversations. All her life, Louise or Lou, as the men in love with her called her, shared love and sex. She knew when and how to use her charms, and in what way to attract the attention of this or that man.

However, Lu preferred to communicate with rich gentlemen, so she had many lovers and influential patrons. She herself abandoned men she did not like and found new ones, experimenting with methods of seduction. Louise lived a beautiful life and did not deny herself anything, although she could not boast of a particularly remarkable appearance.

The fourth femme fatale can truly be called Maria Tarnovskaya. This Ukrainian countess lived from 1877 to 1949. At the age of 17, she married a wealthy and enviable groom. Being married to her husband, she corrupted her husband's younger brother. After losing with him a little, she left him. The boy could not stand the unhappy love and committed suicide.

Her sexual partners abandoned their wives and showered her with money, and those who could not withstand such intense competition shot themselves, hanged themselves and took their own lives. Due to the large number of deaths in which the woman was involved, she was brought to trial on charges of deliberately causing 14 people to commit suicide. And after a long trial, Maria was convicted and sentenced to prison for 5 years.

The top five most famous “femme fatales” in history are closed by the “blue angel” Marlene Dietrich. This singer and actress, thanks to her precise timing, easily beat her competitors and married the famous producer Rudolf Sieber. However, despite the fact that the woman “madly loved” her husband, she never refused the advances of other gentlemen. She had a love relationship with actor Jean Gabin and Ernest Hemingway, passionate kisses with Remarque, whose heart was broken by the incomparable Marlene, and other famous personalities.

The beauty even collected letters and rings from those men who had ever proposed marriage to her.

These are the insidious and breathtaking “femme fatales” who have left a vivid imprint on their lives in history.

The Pakistani girl became famous throughout the world at the age of 11 thanks to her blog, in which she talked about the atrocities of the Taliban who captured the village where Malala lived. The girl wrote about how the Taliban prohibit women from receiving education and do not recognize their universal human rights and freedoms. A year later, militants identified the author of the blog and shot Malala on a city bus, injuring several more people. The girl miraculously survived, was transported to the UK and was awarded the National Pakistani Youth Peace Prize. At the age of 16, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest laureate in history. Malala is now 18 years old and works in Lebanon, opening schools for girls there.

2. Irena Sendler

A doctor from Warsaw, during the Second World War she worked in the Warsaw Ghetto, where she cared for sick children. With the help of various tricks, forgeries, and substitution of documents, Irena took 2,500 Jewish children out of the ghetto. The babies were given sleeping pills, placed in small boxes with holes in them to prevent them from suffocating, and taken out in cars that carried disinfectants to the camp. Some children were taken out through the basements of houses directly adjacent to the ghetto. Gutters were also used for escapes. Other children were carried out in bags, baskets, and cardboard boxes. Risking her life, she kept lists of those rescued, and after the war she tracked down almost everyone to make sure that their lives were going well. In 1965, the Israeli Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem awarded Irena Sendler the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

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3. Maria Skłodowska-Curie

A great physicist and chemist, Maria is the only woman in the world to have been awarded the Nobel Prize twice (for the discovery of radioactivity and the discovery of the elements polonium and radium). During the First World War, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, already a recognized scientist and Nobel laureate, as director of the Red Cross Radiology Service, began equipping and maintaining portable X-ray machines for examining the wounded. Marie Curie invested almost all the funds from both Nobel Prizes into the creation of these devices. Interestingly, Marie Sklodowska-Curie is also the only female winner of two Nobel Prizes, whose daughter also received a Nobel Prize in the same chemistry as her mother.

4. Margaret Hamilton

Margaret led a team of software engineers on NASA's Apollo space project. The most famous was the photograph of Margaret next to a printout of the program code that she wrote.

5. Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank is considered the most tragic and most reliable evidence of the horrors of Nazism. During the war years, the female part of Anna’s family hid in the basement, and the Jewish girl wrote almost every day in her notebook about everything she saw around. The diary was preserved miraculously: Anna, her mother and sisters were found and deported to Auschwitz. None of them survived. Anna's diary was found by a random girl who was impressed by what she read, managed to find Anna's relatives and gave the diary to them. Anne Frank's diary was one of 35 objects included in the Memory of the World register of the UNESCO World Heritage List.

6. Katrin Schwitzer

Catherine's dream was always to run a marathon alongside men (in the 1960s, women were not allowed to participate in these races). Catherine took the start line in 1967 and ran the marathon, despite the organizers' attempts to force her off the course. After Katrin’s impressive results, within 5 years women received the right to participate in marathons on an equal basis with men.

7. Rosa Lee Parks

The first black woman to publicly refuse to acknowledge white supremacy. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, Rose refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Rose's riot was supported not only by other passengers on the bus, but also by the townspeople; she received the nickname “Black Rose of Freedom.” For 381 days, all black residents of Montgomery did not use public transportation in support of Rosa and her position. On December 20, 1956, city bus segregation in Montgomery was desegregated by law.

8. Ana-Vasilikia Aslan

A famous woman doctor from Romania who founded the world's first institute of gerontology and geriatrics (the study of aging processes). And it all started with the fact that in 1946, a 140-year-old man who lived in the forest and until the age of 98 dragged huge logs on his shoulders came to her as an ordinary doctor. Ana-Vasilicia became interested in the phenomenon of longevity and studied the habits, daily routine and diet of her patient for 4 years - until his death. Aslan was the first to note that eating organic foods, lots of physical activity and clean air play a decisive role.

9. Bertha von Suttner

In 1889, Bertha von Suttner published the book “Down with Arms!” (“Die Waffen nieder!”), in which she told about the life of a young woman whose fate was crippled by the European wars of the 60s of the 19th century. This passionate protest against the war, written with great knowledge of the matter and a huge stock of observations, a protest from the point of view of a wife, mother and family who suffered much from the horrors of war, brought her enormous popularity. Nobel himself read the book, contacted Bertha and promised her to establish a new category for his prize - the Peace Prize. It was Bertha who became the first laureate in this category and the second woman in history to receive such a high award.

10. Valentina Tereshkova

The world's first female cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, candidate of technical sciences, professor and 10th cosmonaut in the world. Despite the very difficult flight and the negative reaction of scientists to the very fact of sending women into space, after Tereshkova’s flight the right to work in space teams was assigned to representatives of the fair sex, and already in 1982 the second female cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, ascended into orbit.

11. Sofia Ionescu

Sofia was born and raised in Bucharest, trained as a doctor and was working as a surgeon when World War II began. The men went to the front, and she was actually left as the only specialist in the clinic. During the bombing, she continued to operate, improving her skills, and once saved the life of a boy by performing brain surgery under difficult conditions. Sofia became the world's first neurosurgeon - among men and women. For 47 years she has not been unfaithful to her native clinic No. 9. An interesting fact in Sofia’s biography is her involvement in the treatment of the beloved wife of the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. According to the laws of Islam, a male doctor could not operate on a sheikh, and besides Sofia, there were no specialists of the required level in the world. Until the end of her life, the sheikh showered her with gratitude and sent her expensive gifts, but Sofia invested all her money in the development of medicine.

12. Nadia Comaneci

The famous Romanian gymnast, five-time Olympic champion, the most titled Romanian athlete in the history of the Olympics, accomplished the impossible: she scored 10.00 points for her performance, despite the fact that even the scoreboard was designed for only 3 digits. The 10.00 points Nadya received when displayed on the scoreboard turned into 1.00 and the stands exploded with indignation. However, the judges explained the situation, and Nadya went down in history. Her record has not yet been broken.

13. Sarla Thakral

Despite the total discrimination against women in India, Sarla managed to obtain a pilot's license back in 1936. True, she was allowed to fly only on cargo and agricultural planes, but this was a huge breakthrough, after which more and more women began to take traditionally male positions in India.

14. Amelia Earhart

The first female pilot to fly the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia was also very gifted literary, she wrote several best-selling books about flights and the life of pilots. Amelia is believed to have paved the way for women into aviation, although to this day the number of female pilots is negligible compared to men.

15. Annette Kellerman

Annette’s action cannot be called a feat, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her courage: she went to the beach for the first time and even took pictures in a swimsuit, which by the standards of 1907 was incredibly, defiantly revealing. Annette was arrested, but outraged protests from women insisting that they had the right to go to public beaches in comfortable but beautiful clothes led to women's swimsuits being allowed worldwide soon after.

16. Komako Kimura

Japanese suffragist who campaigned for women's voting rights. For 10 years, from 1913 to 1923, Komako taught courses called “New Women,” in which she explained to Japanese women why their rights should be the same as their husbands. However, Japanese women received this right only in 1945.

17. Margaret Thatcher

In fact, the first female prime minister with such high authority, the ability to lead the country and fully participate in all political and economic processes. Under Thatcher, the country's economy grew three times faster than usual, and she herself became a model of a female politician, giving many other female representatives a chance to break into the highest echelons of power.

18. Mother Teresa

The girl, who voluntarily took monastic vows and left for impoverished Calcutta, spent 20 years caring for the poor, the destitute, the sick and lepers. Single-handedly she founded the Congregation of Mercy. Now this charitable organization has about 300 thousand members in 80 countries, it is a global network of orphanages, shelters, hospitals, and leper colonies. In Kolkata alone, a rehabilitation center for lepers simultaneously treats 10,000 people and trains them in various home-based jobs.

19. Ellen DeGeneres

In 1997, American TV presenter Ellen DeGeneres staged a large-scale coming out. She appeared on the cover of Time with the quote, “Yes, I'm a lesbian,” and later came out to her psychoanalyst, played by Oprah Winfrey, on Ellen. It was my first coming out and an incredible challenge to society. After Ellin’s revelation, such confessions ceased to be rare and shock society. For 11 years now, Ellen has had an affair with actress Portia De Rossi. On August 16, 2008, after the ban on same-sex marriage was lifted in California, the girls got married.

20. Golda Meir

The 5th Prime Minister of Israel was born in Ukraine as the seventh child in the family. Five of her older siblings died at an early age due to lack of normal living conditions and illnesses. Golda herself almost died of hunger; due to persecution based on her ethnicity, she fled to Israel and vowed to devote her life to ensuring that not a single person suffered from Nazism, xenophobia, and had acceptable living conditions and a guarantee of safety. Golda Meir became the only woman among the signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the first Israeli ambassador to the USSR and, finally, the first female prime minister.

21. Gloria Steinem

Her father abandoned Gloria and her seriously ill mother without a penny of money. From an early age, the girl was forced to work, care for her sick mother and face constant discrimination. Gloria became a journalist and politician, leader of the feminist movement. Thanks to her activity, politicians began to discuss programs such as “Free family planning by women” and “Democracy of the family with the division of family responsibilities between husband and wife.” Gloria is considered one of the most effective feminist activists.

22. Anne Rand

Born Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, after the Bolshevik Revolution, she emigrated to the United States, where she received an education and became a popular writer. Anne saw the main problem of all humanity in the fact that the state promotes the position of serving a person to the country, while it should be the other way around. Rand's seven most famous books (We the Living, Hymn, The Fountainhead, and The Virtue of Selfishness) have sold 50 million copies each. And the novel Atlas Shrugged was awarded as the greatest philosophical epic work in history.

23. Linda Joy Wachner

Linda is called the woman who gave birth to the term self-made person (a person who has achieved everything on his own). At the age of 11, Linda suffered a spinal injury and was bedridden. The doctors said that the girl would never walk, but Linda replied: “I swear to you, I will not just walk, but conquer peaks.” After 2 years of hard training, Linda took her first steps. Fate was cruel to her: her husband died when Linda was 20 years old, literally after him, her parents and sister left one after another. Vachner decided that she would achieve everything alone. She got a job as an errand girl in a trading company, learned on the go, and a few years later she was already the director of the successful Warnaco company, which was the leader in the consumer market in New York and other major US cities. In 1986, she was recognized as “Woman of the Year”, and 6 years later - “America’s Most Successful Business Woman.” It was Wachner’s example that inspired many businesswomen; it was she who proved that a person does not need patronage and inheritance to become successful.

24. Rita Levi-Montalcini

An Italian neuroscientist and Nobel Prize laureate, Rita devoted her entire life to scientific developments, and sent all the money that her research brought her to a charitable foundation she created that finances the construction of schools in developing countries and the attraction of teachers who could give more to children living in squalid conditions and deprived of access to information. Rita became the first woman to be admitted to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; and in 2001 she was appointed senator for life of the Italian Republic.

25. Hedy Lamarr

An Austrian and then American film actress, popular in the 1930s and 1940s, Hedy was interested in... new ways of encoding signals. After leaving her career, she completely went into science, and as a result, she developed a method of data transmission that could not be drowned out by interference. Hedy's invention saved many US Navy ships during World War II and later became the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.

26. Ada Lovelace

The daughter of the poet George Gordon Byron is considered the first programmer in history to begin developing the world's first program-controlled digital computer. Ada wrote programs that none of her contemporaries understood, but later they formed the basis of the first computer codes.

27. Lyudmila Pavlichenko

A legendary female sniper, hero of the battle for Sevastopol and the liberation of Odessa, she was personally invited to the United States by Franklin Roosevelt and spoke to the American people in Chicago. Her phrase went down in history: “Gentlemen, I am twenty-five years old. During the war years, I destroyed 309 fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you've been hiding behind my back for too long?

28. Rosalind Franklin

A potential Nobel Prize winner, Rosalind was undeservedly forgotten as a scientist. She worked on DNA analysis together with three male colleagues, who eventually received a prestigious award for their developments. None of them mentioned that it was Rosalind who performed the key stage of the work - X-ray analysis of DNA, thanks to which it became possible to isolate the double helix, which contains genetic information about a person.

29. Billie Jean King

Billie Jean opened the way for women to play tennis. Today she holds the record for the most victories at the Wimbledon tournament. She founded the Women's World Tennis Association and ensured that prize payments for women tennis players were identical to those paid to men. It all started with Billie Jean challenging the world number one (Bobby Riggs in 1973) to prove that women play tennis as well as men. King won in a landslide, putting an end to the talk that women have no place in tennis.

30. Rachel Carson

American biologist who first drew attention to the harm that pesticides cause to living organisms. Rachel’s book “Silent Spring” caused a storm of indignation among chemical manufacturers, many even accused her of “ordering” the text and considered all of Carson’s research to be fabricated, but Rachel honorably won all the courts and is considered the founder of the modern movement for organic products and the fight for the ecology of our planet .

Many women in world history have left a significant mark and influenced society to one degree or another. In fact, identifying the most famous of them was not such an easy task.

However, we would like to draw your attention to some representatives of the fairer sex who managed to achieve world fame and glory, and even changed the course of history. Most of you have probably already heard about them.

She is undoubtedly the most influential and famous woman in all of history and one of the greatest saints in the Christian religion. As an image of faith and devotion, the Virgin Mary (or Mother of God) made the greatest contribution to the history of the human race. Everyone knows that more than 2000 years ago she gave birth to God's son Jesus Christ.

The life of this famous bright personality was very eventful. Already at the age of 17, she began to command the French army. And at the age of 18, Jeanne proved herself to be a great strategist and fearless warrior, winning many battles against the English army. As a simple Christian from Orleans, Jeanne claimed that she was God's messenger and all her achievements were made possible only thanks to the intervention of God. At the age of 19, Joan of Arc was burned alive at the stake, accused of heresy, and 25 years later she was declared a righteous woman and a great martyr.

Some perceive Catherine de Medici as a cruel person, while others perceive her as a great woman. A master of politics, diplomacy and intrigue, Catherine was most likely a person with very great ambitions. She reigned not directly, but through her sons, who turned into real puppets, unable to resist the pressure of this strong woman. Often the actions and decisions of Catherine de Medici were cruel and immoral, dictated by age-related needs.

This beautiful Egyptian queen is one of the most influential women in history. Her name is well known all over the world. Cleopatra's life story has been well documented, so her achievements and failures are no secret to anyone. The beautiful but tragic story of Queen Cleopatra, the wife of the famous Julius Caesar, has become the subject of many books and films and is passed down from generation to generation.

As the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (who was herself quite a famous person), Elizabeth I is known to many as a lady who remained unmarried for her entire life, and in an era when this was practically impossible, especially for the heir to the throne. Despite this fact, her reign is considered one of the most successful in the history of England. At the same time, disputes often arose about this person. Some consider her an angry and tough woman.

Marie Curie is a woman out of her era. Born in 1867 in Poland, she was a genius in physics and chemistry. Curie was the first to receive a Nobel Prize, and she is also the only woman in history to receive two Nobel Prizes. The list of her achievements is very long; this amazing person made many discoveries that moved humanity one step forward in its development. She was the first to conduct research in the field of radioactivity, the term itself was coined by Curie.

Another amazing woman is Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to the poor, needy and helpless people. She was a nun who was attracted to the life of missionaries from childhood. Mother Teresa left her home and family and took up a charitable mission in Calcutta. There her work was of great value. Orphanages, hospitals, hospices and many other facilities were opened, not only in India, but also in other countries. The Community of Charity began with only 13 members, but today it has 4,000 nuns helping those in need.

This woman was the Queen of France and the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Francis I. She became very popular after her execution during the French Revolution. Although some argue that it was because of her that the revolution took place, since she was drowning in luxury, was completely indifferent to the hardships of the poor, for which she paid with her head. Other historians, on the contrary, disagree with these accusations.

Indira Gandhi is a special woman, a great talented politician. She served as the first Prime Minister of India for a total of 15 years. Indira Gandhi made a significant contribution to the well-being of her country and contributed to improving the standard of living and literacy of the population. In 1984 she was killed.

Mata Hari is one of the most famous historical figures. She was a very beautiful woman of Dutch descent who led an immoral lifestyle as an exotic dancer and courtesan. During World War I, she was allegedly a double agent, spying for both France and Germany. Although she did not confess and denied all charges, she was still found guilty and executed in 1917. It was then that the public began to wonder whether she was really guilty or not, many rumors began to circulate, and this is how this woman became famous. It is still not clear whether she was a spy or not.

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Men and women perform equally. Only their roles are different. Women most often act as gray and black cardinals, while men act as heroes and beat their chests. That's why more of them ended up in the annals of history. The great women in the history of mankind are, in principle, all the women who lived, live and will live. And this is not a compliment, but a simple statement of fact.

Female beauty is a formidable weapon

Thinking about the greatness of famous ladies, we are subconsciously convinced that they were fatal beauties. This is where the famous phrase comes to mind: Unfortunately, not everyone knows the continuation of the catchphrase. But then there is an explanation: “... if she is kind!” It would seem that there are only three words, but the meaning immediately becomes different. However, there is no particular contradiction in it; we understand that a woman combines two complete opposites within herself, and this is the horror and danger of female beauty. Thousands of examples convince humanity that the earthly prettiness of a woman, absolutely devoid of a spiritual principle, is often mistaken for true beauty and carries with it death. To be fair, it is worth noting that not all great women who left a significant mark on the history of mankind were beautiful. However, each of them has its own special life story, love story, which has been preserved for centuries and is surrounded by incredible legends. This is their greatness.

Possessing amazing fortitude, they, not afraid to get ahead of their time, boldly went beyond the moral boundaries of their century. The list of majestic people can be continued endlessly: Sappho, Cleopatra, Catherine II, Nefertiti, Margaret Thatcher, Joan of Arc, Vanga, Camilla Claudel, Princess Olga, Murasaki Shikibu. Probably, we will not sin against the truth if we dare to say that these are the most great women in history, after all, each of them can rightfully be considered as a symbol of their era, their time.

On parity terms with some advantage in favor of women

More recently, no more than 15 years ago, geneticists established with a reasonable degree of certainty that a woman transfers about 80% of her cellular information to her child, a father - 15-17%, and the first man - up to 5% due to the so-called telegony. But that is not all. A person’s character is formed mainly before the age of 5, and then it practically does not change. So the influence of a woman on all men is such that they can all be called mama’s boys without any exaggeration.

Just like a she-wolf, who after seven generations of mating with dogs can restore the wolf tribe, so one woman is capable of more in history than one man. The exploits of real Achilles, Hectors and Samsons are the sum of the deeds of men. A woman can single-handedly change the course of history.

Famous women are less common in historical chronicles, not because there were fewer of them, but because their role is more profound. They carefully and thoughtfully prepared the turns of history that the men then made, as if on a whim.

Olympias - mother of Alexander the Great

Her name is not included in the "Great Women of History" list. Probably due to the fact that Greek culture became the basis of modern European culture. But the Olympics influenced the course of historical events much more than the great Aristotle.

She gave birth to Alexander and forged his character. The future legendary commander absorbed the Greek worldview with his mother's milk. The Olympics found him teachers who trained his body, teachers (including Aristotle) ​​who sharpened his mind, and, finally, friends who became his associates. So who made the real history? However, the Olympics did not even make it into the “Famous Women in History” category.

Macedonia was a strong state with its original and equal Greek culture. But who now studies it thoroughly (except for a handful of philosophy lovers)? And they only know that there once existed a certain religious-philosophical movement named after Orpheus, and three or four postulates from it. But even Archimedes and Pythagoras were Orphics. Philip, Alexander's father, raised a deadly sword over Greek culture and lifestyle. And it seemed that it was impossible to avert her death. But the woman managed to find ways that turned the winners into losers, with their great consent.

Esther

Another name of a great woman in the history of the world who accomplished some kind of feat. It is in honor of Esther that Jews around the world have been celebrating Purim for more than 3 thousand years. Her name is inscribed in the Bible and therefore has only survived to this day.

When the financial and military elites came together in a struggle for power in ancient Persia, Esther spoke out for the financial side, most of which consisted of Jews of the same blood. Then the scales tipped in their favor, and the Jews won the desired victory.

Many of the Jewish men contributed to the struggle for this victory, but even Mordecai did not receive the memory of the entire Jewish people that Esther received. But she was just the wife of the king of Persia. But she had such an influence on his decisions that the outcome of the battle was predetermined.

Amazons

Many people have heard about this brave and warlike tribe. But they are not called great. And the point is not even that their names were not preserved in the annals. It’s just that in direct, open confrontation on the battlefields, they were inferior to men. So, their queen could not withstand the onslaught of Achilles and died heroically at his hand. This is easily explained: they took up work that was not typical for women.

That is why history crossed them out of its lists. The resilience of women in the heat of bloody battles is inferior to that of men, but in ordinary, everyday life they are an order of magnitude higher than the latter. Many heroes, unable to find a use for their powers, became drunk, became depressed, and threw themselves into all sorts of troubles as if into a whirlwind. But this happens much less often with women. They have a powerful and great inner moral core.

Maria and Khadija

Quite common - each in its own culture - names. They won't tell most people much. But these are the names of great women!

One has only to mention that this refers to the mother of Christ and the wife of Mohammed, and it immediately becomes clear why these persons are so significant.

Although their role in the affairs of both founders of world religions is enormous, even they are not such an authority for many. Very little history is known about the Mother of God. A little more about Khadija.

So, the Holy Virgin and Jesus. As a mother (who, by the way, gave birth to a son miraculously from the Holy Spirit), Mary could not help but pass on 100% of her genetic information to him. In fact, the Savior must appear as if it were the Mother of God in a male body. Difficult? Perhaps, but there's nothing you can do about it. In addition, Mary had a great moral influence on her firstborn. She was present at his death, and was among the chosen ones who met Jesus resurrected.

According to legend, before her ascension to heaven, Mary lived under John the Theologian. When heavenly angels began to visit him in visions, and then the Savior himself, John wanted to abandon his mission. But it was the Mother of God who kept him from this step. That is, again, here we can see how a woman in the history of mankind guides a man, and he already accomplishes significant deeds and glorifies himself with exploits.

Muse of the Prophet

Khadija's guiding role in the life of the prophet is much clearer. It was she who took the initiative to marry him. She saw in time what potential lay hidden in the twenty-five-year-old young man. She was the first, like no one else, to appreciate the merits of the prophecies of Mohammed. And, quite likely, the prophet would never have taken the risky path of asceticism without the moral and material support of his unforgettable first wife. For this, she (according to legend) went to heaven with the help of the Archangel Jebrail, although according to Islamic teachings women do not have souls.

Role in history is not measured by fame

Wide popularity is far from the most accurate indicator of the role played by a person in the history of mankind. Many empty-headed people, famous women and men who shock the public, or even villains are known much more than the true benefactors of all intelligent inhabitants of planet Earth.

You can compare Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and Hypatia, and the philosopher. Cleopatra can be added to her title with the “high title” of the greatest woman in history. But this is not true. And the name of Hypatia will remain an empty phrase for the vast majority of men. Although many people use her invention to this day. We are talking about an ordinary building level. She invented the astrolabe. Thanks to this, long trips to the open sea became possible.

Cleopatra, with her “unearthly” love, made a nonentity out of the hero and gave the independence of the country into the hands of the iron might of Rome. She had everything, both military and economic forces, to organize the defense of her homeland, but did not use them. Primitive thinking is not limited to so-called great men. But in the minds of most, Queen Cleopatra is at least one of the great women of history.

And Hypatia was not only the last great mathematician of antiquity and the inventor of many useful things, but also led the movement to preserve the knowledge accumulated by mankind. She defended this knowledge from Christianity, which had begun to go wild, which made the image of the Savior meaningless and began to claim power over the spiritual life of all people without exception. She died heroically, but the knowledge that she saved with her companions still helps to make our lives better, more comfortable, and more convenient. Japanese stone gardens are her solution to a geometric problem, when all the stones except one are visible from any point on the plane. Without solving this problem, in the twentieth century they would not have been able to create such a wonderful thing as the computer that is already familiar to everyone. Knowledge lay dormant for 1700 years only to awaken in the heads of talented people and move human history further along the path of progress. So there are great women in history. Of course, they were different, and they entered history in different ways too

Olga - creator of the core of Russian civilization

Olga's wisdom was so great that she did not allow her son's heroism to deplete the human and economic resources of Rus'. Olga gave just enough from the reserve so that daring campaigns would benefit society and the state. And at the same time, she did not enter into conflicts with her son, did not insist and, most importantly, did not show the man that she was smarter than him.

I also saw the spiritual life of people. Svyatoslav was as straightforward as a warrior, and therefore put it simply: “Christianity is an abomination.” But Olga understood that the Vedic religion must retreat for a while. This is the dictate of the logic of history. But you must always retreat wisely. It is not without reason that the military says that a retreat is a more difficult operation than an offensive. She managed to weave the living stems of Vedism into the Christian worldview. Without this, the Vedic Renaissance of the 12th century would not have been possible. And “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” would not have been created, and the epics about Svyatogor would not have survived to this day. And in Rus', as in Europe of those times, the fires of the Inquisition would have blazed. And the architecture of Russian Orthodox churches would not bear reflections of the Vedic vision of the Universe. And the word Orthodoxy itself would not exist. What would happen? Byzantine state. No comments needed...

However, Olga is far from the only lady who is remembered in conversations about the great women of the Russian land.

Great women in Russian history: dubious greatness

But there is exaggerated greatness. It is based on appearance and shine. In the history of Russia there are two empresses - Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II. But only one of them was almost officially included in the list of “Famous Women in the History of the World.” We are talking about Catherine the Second.

But it was during the reign of Elizabeth (and it lasted 14 years) that Russia did not know any upheaval. There were no wars with external adversaries, who seemed to be hiding in those years, there were no peasant uprisings, the morals of serfdom softened, science and production developed. And all this was done somehow quietly and imperceptibly. And yet she is not as famous as the other ruler of the Russian State.

Descendants know more about Catherine. She was an enlightened woman with enormous knowledge and incredible potential. But for some reason, no matter how offensive it may be, when this woman is mentioned in Russian history, obscenities are heard more often and lists of her countless favorites are remembered. Such is human nature...

The history of mankind continues. The 20th century added outstanding figures to the list called “Great Women in the History of the World”: the queen of detective stories, Agatha Christie; space explorer Valentina Tereshkova; expressive Coco Chanel; Calcutta Mother Teresa, in the world Agnes Gonja Boyaksha; fatal and unforgettable Marilyn Monroe It is difficult to argue with the fact that a woman is the most mysterious, beautiful and unpredictable creature in the Universe, as well as with the fact that without women our world would be much more boring.