June Opie was a polio survivor, clinical psychologist, writer and broadcaster who overcame discrimination against the disabled to achieve professional and personal success. Her memoir, Over my dead body (1957), was an international best-seller and brought her widespread fame.
French midwife who invented the pelvimeter and vaginal speculum, which are used to dilate the vagina and examine the cervix. She discovered causes of miscarriages and was the first to use a stethoscope to listen to the fetal heartbeat. Her books Mémorial de l’art des accouchements (The Art of Obstretrics, 1812) and Traité pratique des maladies de l’utérus et de ses annexes (1833, on diseases of the uterus) were important texts for medical students and midwives.
Polish-French physicist and chemist, first woman to win a Nobel Prize
Greek historian and scholar
In 1886 she opened the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, of which she was dean until her retirement in 1899. She is the author of American Schools and Colleges, Medical Women and Care of Infants.
Russian litterateur, and one of the leaders of the party that raised Catherine II to the throne
Leader in the American movement for the higher education of women, founder of the Troy Female Seminary, and active in the great national revival of common schools in the United States.
Philanthropist and medical reformer
Founder of the first hospital in Rome.
English naturalist and entomologist