WRITER

Mary Astell

1666 - 1731

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Mary Astell (12 November 1666 – 11 May 1731) was an English protofeminist author, philosopher, and rhetorician who advocated for equal educational opportunities for women. Astell is primarily remembered as one of England's inaugural advocates for women's rights and some commentators consider her to have been "the first English feminist". Astell's works, particularly A Serious Proposal to the Ladies and Some Reflections Upon Marriage, argue for the fundamental intellectual equality between men and women. Her philosophical writings are thought to have influenced subsequent generations of educated women, including the literary group known as the Bluestockings, whose discussions of literature, science, and philosophy often centred on issues related to women's education and equality. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Mary Astell is the 2,346th most popular writer (up from 2,640th in 2019), the 1,998th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,957th in 2019) and the 224th most popular British Writer.

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Mary Astell ranks 2,346 out of 7,302. Before her are Tayeb Salih, Duris of Samos, Victorinus of Pettau, Gregory Tsamblak, Musa Cälil, and Eupolis. After her are Andrei Voznesensky, John Fletcher, Joseph D. Pistone, Israel Joshua Singer, Keigo Higashino, and Marius Maximus.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1666, Mary Astell ranks 13. Before her are Marie Anne de Bourbon, Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, John William III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau, Antonio Maria Valsalva, and Marie Thérèse de Bourbon. After her are Jean-Féry Rebel, Benedetto Luti, Nevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha, Ogyū Sorai, Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz, and George Bähr. Among people deceased in 1731, Mary Astell ranks 13. Before her are Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, Frederik Ruysch, Violante Beatrice of Bavaria, Johann Ludwig Bach, and Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken. After her are Augustus William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Ferdinand Brokoff.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Mary Astell ranks 1,998 out of 8,785. Before her are David Byrne (1952), Andy Whitfield (1971), Ouida (1839), William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe (1729), Sophie Turner (1996), and Dennis Nilsen (1945). After her are John Fletcher (1579), Henry Allingham (1896), Roger Hodgson (1950), Pauline Moran (1947), Kenneth Grahame (1859), and Alan Bates (1934).

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Mary Astell ranks 224. Before her are James Herbert Brennan (1940), Dick Francis (1920), Tobias Smollett (1721), Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1868), Orderic Vitalis (1075), and Ouida (1839). After her are John Fletcher (1579), Kenneth Grahame (1859), William Smith (1813), Sister Nivedita (1867), John Marston (1576), and Noël Coward (1899).

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