Mary Wollstonecraft was born on 27 April 1759 in Spitalfields. An English writer and philosopher, Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding thinkers of feminism. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman argued that women appear inferior only because they are denied education, and that society would benefit from treating them as rational beings. She had earlier defended the French Revolution against Edmund Burke in A Vindication of the Rights of Men, and she wrote on education, travel and fiction. Her life was unconventional for her time, and she died days after giving birth to her daughter Mary, later the author of Frankenstein.
Before and after
- 1759Construction of British Museum
- from 16 January 1759 to 19 January 1759Invasion of Martinique
- 25 January 1759Birth of Robert Burns
- 14 April 1759Death of George Frideric Handel
- 27 April 1759Birth of Mary Wollstonecraft
- 10 November 1759Birth of Friedrich Schiller
- from December 1759 to May 1760Burmese–Siamese War of 1759–60
- from 1760 to 1830Neoclassicism
- from 1760 to 1820Industrial Revolution
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1605Publication of Don Quixote
- 1652Origins of Quakers
- c. 1653The Taj Mahal is completed
- from 1660 to 1725Rise of Classicism
- 1661Construction of Palace of Versailles
- from c. 1730s to 1780sRise of Rococo
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.