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Katherine Mayo
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Sirimavo Bandaranaike
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Edith Cavell
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Elizabeth Fry
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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born on 23 May 1842 in Suwałki
died on October 8, 1910 in Lwow (Lemberg)
Polish poet and writer
180th birthday on May 23, 2022
The popular poet Maria Konopnicka was the most popular and most discussed Polish author of her time in the literary world. She grew up as the eldest of six siblings in a family of prosecutors. The early death of her mother shadowed her childhood. Raised in strict discipline, she was married by her father at a very young age to Jan Konopnicki, the tenant of the Bronow estate. The convents marriage with the 12 years older deceased man shocked Maria's sensitive nature. Only after 16 years she gathers all her courage, leaves Jan and moves to Warsaw with six children. This act is the beginning of her literary career.
Well acquainted with the conditions in the countryside, Konopnicka places exploitation, poverty and hunger of peasant families at the center of her poetry (The Free Wage Worker, Homeless, 1878). In the novellas she takes up political issues, for example, condemning the persecution of Jews by the tsardom and Prussian acts of violence in the struggle for land (Danziger…read more
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born on October 7, 1675 in Venice
died on April 15, 1757 in Venice
Italian painter
350th birthday on October 7, 2025
Kings, princes, and countless members of the European aristocracy who travelled to Venice on their Grand Tour never failed to visit Rosalba Carriera in her studio to have their portrait painted, purchase some of her paintings, or commission works from her for later. The largest collection was undoubtedly owned by August III of Saxony and Poland, who at the end of his life had more than 150 of her pastels on display in the “Rosalba Hall” in Dresden—hardly surprising, given that he had bought every painting in the studio already when he had visited in 1739. The demand for Rosalba’s paintings was at times so great that she employed several young female painters as well as her youngest sister Giovanna.
Carriera had developed the technique of pastel painting in a way that brought it to fruition, offering a completely new way of portraying people that was entirely in keeping with the tastes of Rococo society. People admired Carriera's mastery of painting the shimmering, lace- and…read more
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Born October 7, 1845 in Bözen, canton of Aargau
Died November 7, 1916 in Zurich
First female Swiss physician
Her life and her struggles are a piece of women's history.
When the 23-year-old pastor's daughter Marie Vögtlin asked her father in 1868 to be allowed to study medicine in order to become a doctor, a storm of indignation ensued not only among her relatives, but also in her home town of Bözen and ultimately throughout the entire Swiss nation. It may have been barely acceptable for a few shameless foreign women to study in Zurich, but now a Swiss woman, too?! But after much hesitation, her father reluctantly agreed. He knew that refusing permission would have plunged his open-minded and headstrong daughter into despair.
She required approval from the authorities at each additional step of the way, including for admission to the examination at the University of Zurich (1873) and to receive her license to practice medicine (1874). Before Marie Vögtlin opened her practice in Zurich, she spent several months in Leipzig completing medical specialization studies. Her professors were…read more
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Marie Le Jars de Gournay
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Jenny Lind
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Dorothea Lange
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You can find the German version here.
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Rachel Ruysch
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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born October 10, 1900 in Washington D.C.
died March 17, 1993 in Nyack, N.Y.
US-American actress
Frequently called the "First Lady of the American Theater", Helen Hayes led a long and remarkable career as a versatile actress on the stage, radio, television, and in movies. Her mother's career as an actress gave Helen an early fondness for the theater. She launched her professional career at only five years old performing with her mother for a local stock company in Washington D.C. Encouraged and guided by her mother, Helen traveled to New York where she made her Broadway debut at age 8 while her father remained at their home in D.C. Several successful childhood roles followed. After her graduation from high school in 1917, she returned to New York where her adult acting career flourished.
Helen was married to writer Charles MacArthur from 1928 until his death in 1956. They had two children, Mary and James. Both children followed in their mother's footsteps, making acting a family tradition. After Mary's death at age 19 of polio in 1949, Helen started the Mary MacArthur…read more
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Harriet Hosmer
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Joan Sutherland
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Ruth Klüger
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
