Another International Women’s Day was celebrated worldwide this week, commemorating the struggle of a group of women who were no longer anonymous due to their tragic death. However, many other women who have stood out in history still are. Sculptors, doctors, physicists, nurses, painters, artists, and many others simply ignored them because they were not men.
Outstanding women who went unnoticed in their time
It should be noted that historically women had no access to study and this is the reason why their presence in the sciences was not even more noticeable. However, there were many who, despite the fact that society gave them a subordinate role, put their name on history.
Berthe Morisot
She was a French painter born in 1841 into an upper class family. He studied fine arts and painted outdoors, especially landscapes. He exhibited his pictures in salons in Paris, which led him to befriend Edouard Monet. He introduced her to Eugene, whom she married and who made her excel in impressionism.
Artemisa Gentileschi
He was distinguished by art. She was an excellent 17th century painter who, if she had been a man, would highlight her work like that of Leonardo or Miguel Angel. He studied fine arts in Florence, although at the time he had to endure the contempt and rejection of society.
Catherine Johnson
He was of African American descent. It was a physicist, a space scientist, and a mathematician. I work for NASA and did the calculations so the Apollo XI crew could land on the moon. He graduated with honors from West Virginia University in mathematics. He also had the honor of working at the Langley Research Center.
As a woman and black woman, she was kept anonymous despite attending meetings with senior engineers. Today NASA recognized its virtues. President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2015
Mary Wollstonecraft
He was of English nationality. She was a philosopher and writer and published The Vindication of Women’s Rights in 1792. In it, he revealed how the men of his time were against women who had access to the same education as them. He also defended the right of women to vote for themselves, and that has not yet been overcome in many places, although it has lasted more than 200 years.
Camille Claudel
She lived in the 20th century and was an excellent sculptor. Her parents wanted to give her the education necessary to be a good woman. However, she wanted to study and managed to get to the School of Fine Arts in Paris. When Rodin saw her work, he took it to his workshop, where the students discriminated against it. She was Rodin’s lover for a long time, but since she would never be his wife, she eventually got tired.
They are just a few of the women who stood out and whose work and history have been ignored. Many others have left their mark on palaces or monuments with their names, such as Hildegard von Bingen, Catherine de Medici, Wilhelmina von Prussia or Rosa Luxemburg. Of the women who have made history, some have been recognized in film, others in literature, but all of them deserve to be mentioned.
