Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first American to be canonized as a saint. She was raised Episcopalian, but later converted to Catholicism. Through the struggles and tragedies she faced in life, she remained devout. She is the founder of the first Catholic schools in the United States and is the patron saint of Catholic schools, widows, and seafarers.
Considered one of the earliest American feminists, Anne Hutchinson was a spiritual leader in colonial Massachusetts who challenged male authority—and, indirectly, acceptable gender roles—by preaching to both women and men and by questioning Puritan teachings about salvation.
Mary Baker Eddy founded a popular religious movement during the 19th century, Christian Science. As an author and teacher, she helped promote healings through mental and spiritual teachings. Today, her influence can still be seen throughout the American religious landscape.
Agontimé was a queen of Dahomey in the early 1800s, one of multiple wives of King Agonglo.
The Lady of Cao is a nickname given to a female Moche mummy discovered in 2005 at the El Brujo archeological site about 45 km north of Trujillo in Peru’s La Libertad Region.
Addagoppe of Harran was an Assyrian priestess of the moon god Sîn in the northern Assyrian city of Harran, and the mother of King Nabonidus (ruled 556–39 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Sophia Frances Anne Caulfeild was a British writer and needleworker who wrote about religion and needlework, and frequently worked with Blanche Catherine Saward.
Luisa Ignacia Roldán was a Spanish sculptor of the Baroque Era, and the first woman sculptor documented in Spain.
Aelia Pulcheria ruled as regent of the Eastern Roman Empire during the minority of her brother Theodosius II and then empress in her own right from July 450 to her death in 453.
Themistoclea was a priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and Pythagoras’s teacher.