About
The volumes which record the history of the human race are filled with the deeds and the words of great men …. The Twentieth Century Woman … questions the completeness of the story. Mary Ritter Beard
The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all — it is very tiresome. Jane Austen, on History
me ;)
Welcome to Amazing Women In History! My name is KeriLynn Engel (call me Keri :) and I started this blog in October 2011 to bring attention to the lives of amazing women we’ve forgotten about.
When you think of people in history — artists, writers, leaders, activists, you name it — what names immediately pop into your head? Maybe you think of famous artists like Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Michaelangelo, writers like Shakespeare or Milton, leaders like Caesar or Napoleon or activists like Gandhi.
How about the internationally famous sculptor Edmonia Lewis? The 17th century English poet, playwright and spy, Aphra Behn, or prolific diarist Harriet Arbuthnot? Queen and Admiral Artemisia I, trusted advisor of Xerxes, or Queen Sayyida al-Hurra who was a pirate equal in power to Barbarossa? Or Dorothea Lynde Dix, a social reformer and pinoeer in the movement for humane treatment of mental illness?
Many more amazing women’s names have been lost to history. Sons’ names, dates of birth, and deeds were diligently recorded while daughters went uncounted and forgotten. (Genghis Kahn had four sons with his wife Börte: Jochi, Chagatai, Ögedei, and Tolui. They also had daughters, but no ones knows their names or even how many there were.)
Louise Otto-Peters (1819–1895)
The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that…women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves.
Even for reletively famous women like Queen Sayyida, information is scarce. The exact year of her birth is unknown, and nobody has any clue what happened to her after she was deposed by her son-in-law in 1542.
I don’t know about you, but this really pisses me off. I want to know more about the lives of these amazing women. I want their names to be as well-known as their male contemporaries. I don’t want them to be forgotten anymore.
On this site, I try to write about women you’ve never heard of before. I adore Susan B. Anthony, Marie Curie, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, but you won’t read about them on this blog. I have a huge long list of amazing women from all over the world and from all different eras that I want to tell you about. I hope you’ll stick around and learn about them with me, and tell others about how amazing they are :)
Other Projects
Here are some other websites and projects I’m working on. Check them out!
FeministFantasy.com is a user-submitted list of feminist-friendly fantasy fiction. Peruse the list for new reading, or submit your favorite book for others to read!
