101 Amazing Women , livre ebook
41
pages
English
Ebooks
2016
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement
Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement
41
pages
English
Ebook
2016
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Publié par
Date de parution
06 octobre 2016
Nombre de lectures
2
EAN13
9781785385759
Langue
English
Publié par
Date de parution
06 octobre 2016
Nombre de lectures
2
EAN13
9781785385759
Langue
English
101 Amazing Women
Extraordinary Heroines Throughout History
Jack Goldstein
First published in 2016 by
Jack Goldstein Books
www.jackgoldsteinbooks.com
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2016 Jack Goldstein
The right of Jack Goldstein to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Jack Goldstein Books or Andrews UK Limited.
Introduction
There are so many women who have contributed to the development of our society that the hardest thing about writing a book such as this is simply deciding who will and will not be featured in it. I make no claim whatsoever as to whether those I have included are more important or deserving in any way than those who I have not - I have simply tried my best to give the reader a light introduction to the background of individuals from a range of periods, countries and areas of interest.
The full story of every single one of the women featured in this book is undoubtedly fascinating and I am sure that somewhere on the internet or at your local library, you will find a great deal more information on any one of them than I have supplied.
My greatest - and humblest - hope for this book is simply to inspire both women and men to continue the work started by others whose stories I tell within these pages. If you read them and are entertained, inspired or even just simply relieved of boredom, then you’ll have made me very happy.
Jack Goldstein
September 2016
Earlier History Hatshepsut (1507 – 1458 BC) : The fifth pharaoh of ancient Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty, Hatshepsut was (we believe) only the second ever female pharaoh, and the one who ruled for the longest - some twenty years. According to many historians, she is the first ‘great woman’ in history of whom we have knowledge. During her reign, Hatshepsut re-established disrupted trade networks and set up new ones, increasing the dynasty’s economic power. She commissioned hundreds of construction projects which were significantly grander than those of her predecessors - some of which were so impressive, later pharaohs tried to claim them as their own! Compared to other leaders, she held a relatively peaceful rule, with expansion coming from trade and diplomacy rather than through battle and conquest. When Hatshepsut died, her step-son, Thutmose III (for whom she had acted as regent) did all he could to eradicate her from history in an effort to assert his own authority, ensuring no-one challenged his son for the throne. Sappho (circa 620–570 BC): Sappho was a poet from the Greek island of Lesbos. We know very little about her life, and most of her poetry (of which we believe she wrote around ten thousand lines) is now lost with only fragments (some 650 lines) surviving. Her works were written to be set to song, and it is the evocative and sensual language she used in them which has ensured her legacy lasts to this very day, even if the majority of her writings don’t. In addition to writing about (and of course paying homage to) the deities of her time, Sappho’s poems expressed love for both women and men. There is some debate as to whether the poems were intended to be performed in public or alternatively in a much more private, personal setting. Even as recently as 2013, parts of her work have continued to be rediscovered, although some not without controversy; the exact circumstances of the most recent unearthing is questionable, being as it is still shrouded in a great deal of secrecy. Anyte of Tegea (circa 3 rd century BC): More complete poems by Anyte of Tegea have survived to this day than by any other ancient Greek female writer. Listed by Antipater of Thessalonica as one of the nine early muses, Anyte was the leader of a school of poetry and literature in the southern Greek region of Peloponnese, which included the famous lyric poet Leonidas of Tarentum. She is thought to be the first poet ever to have written epitaphs for animals and is certainly one of the first to write vivid descriptions of untamed nature. Known as ‘the female Homer’ she was so highly thought of in ancient times that hers were the very first poems listed in a collection of epigrams by some fifty different writers of the period. Although we know very little about her life, her poetry seems to focus on the world around her, rather than on more common but intangible concepts such love and feelings. Cleopatra (69–30 BC): The last active Ptolemaic pharaoh, Cleopatra solidified her grip on the Egyptian throne first by having a son with Julius Caesar, and later through her relationship with Roman leader Mark Anthony. Using her beauty and charm to great political advantage, Cleopatra was also renowned for her intellect; amazingly, she spoke at least nine languages and rarely required an interpreter. Famously she is said to have committed suicide by inducing an asp (an Egyptian cobra ) to bite her breast - although most modern historians doubt this story, with suicide by poisoning or even murder being proposed as alternatives. Boudica (30 –60 AD): Boudica (sometimes written as Boudicca , Boudicea and other spellings) was queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe. In 60 AD she gathered together her troops, along with those of the Trinovantes and other Celtic tribes, and revolted against Roman rule in Britain. She successfully destroyed Camulodunum (today known as Colchester) where a temple had been built to the former emperor Claudius. When the Romans heard that her next target was Londinium (London), they evacuated the city, and Boudica and her 100,000 tribespeople lay waste to the city, burning it - and later Verulamium (St Albans) - to the ground. Her troops killed more than fifty thousand Roman soldiers, and almost convinced Emperor Nero to withdraw all Roman troops from Britain. In the end, the Romans re-grouped in the West Midlands, eventually defeating Boudica who is believed to have taken her own life to avoid capture. Lady Trieu (225–248): Lady Trieu (for a time) successfully resisted Chinese expansion into her home country of Vietnam. Often referred to as ‘the Vietnamese Joan of Arc’, Trieu is believed to have been orphaned as a young girl. She decided to forego the traditional Vietnamese female role of staying at home to look after the housework and at the age of twenty ventured into the mountains, gathering together a band of a thousand followers. For six months, Trieu and her warriors fought back against the advancing Chinese; she was known to join battle wearing yellow robes whilst riding on the back of an elephant! Unfortunately, the invasion was a war of attrition, and the Chinese simply had more forces available to fight and die even though Trieu’s band were easily the more skilful. Lady Trieu is quoted as saying, “I’d like to ride storms, kill sharks in the open sea, drive out the aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man.” Empress Theodora (500–548): As the wife of Justinian I, Theodora was empress of the Byzantine Empire. Whilst her husband held official power, many scholars have proposed that she was the real decision-maker, with Justinian essentially a ‘co-regent’. Theodora achieved many great feats during her time in power, with the suppression of the Nika revolt (a devastating riot that threatened the empire’s entire political system) being one of the most lauded. She is credited with a range of social reforms, mostly involving the rights of women. These included expanding the rights of women in both property ownership and divorce proceedings, giving mothers guardianship rights over their children, forbidding the killing of women for adultery and even closing brothels, creating instead convents where the former prostitutes could live in safety. Wu Zetian (624–705): Originally concubine to one emperor (Taizong), Wu Zetian married his successor, Emperor Gaozong, becoming his empress consort. When Gaozong suffered a stroke thus becoming unable to perform his courtly duties, Wu Zetian became administrator of the court, effectively giving her the power of the emperor if not the title . Under her guidance, the Chinese expire extended further than ever before whilst improving education and the fate of the ordinary citizen. Even in a heavily male-dominated court, Wu’s strength, determination and careful rule saw her subjects enjoy a golden age of knowledge and expansion. Elizabeth I (1533–1603): On the 9 th of August 1588, Queen Elizabeth I addressed her troops at Tilbury. There, she famously said “I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too” . Her father, Henry VIII, had been a strong leader, but following his reign there had been a power struggle between his children; it was to be one of the most important in English history as it eventually established England as a Protestant rather than Catholic nation. Throughout her reign, Elizabeth proved herself to be a powerful and decisive leader, and until Queen Victoria hundreds of years later remained the country’s most influential female figure. Under Elizabeth’s reign, culture
