5 Inspirational and Iconic Women of the Past
This list of 5 inspirational and iconic women of the past will leave you feeling confident, inspired, empowered, and ready for anything, whatever your gender!
1. Anne Frank (1929 – 1945)
Anne Frank was a young German-born Jew and is one of the most well-known victims of the Holocaust. Anne kept a diary that reflected her unbelievable strength and maturity for a 13-year-old girl (15 by the end of her life) while in hiding with her family. After Anne and her family were apprehended in 1944 and died in a concentration camp a year later in 1945, Anne’s father was the only known survivor and retrieved the diary from Miep Gies, who hid the Frank family along with others during the war. The diary ultimately became a massive success after it was published as a book in 1947, named “The Diary of a Young Girl”. The diary provides a very real and very confronting observation into the life of Jewish people in Nazi Germany and a major theme in the diary is about women having a voice and the significance of it.
2. Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852)
Born Augusta Ada Byron, Ada Lovelace was the daughter of an English poet named Lord Byron and became one of the world’s first computer programmers. She was a mathematician and wrote an algorithm for the first computing machine in the mid- 1800s. She displayed her gift at an early age as her mother insisted on her being tutored in maths and science, which was not for women in those times. She too could be considered an inspiration to women, insisting that her daughter should be academically skilled. However, Ada’s mother believed that studying these things would stop her from becoming anything like her father. Her contributions to computer science and her mathematical notes were not discovered until the 1950s. Her notes were then republished as a book, “Faster Than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines,” in 1953, as well as receiving many tributes, and in 1980, the U.S. Department of Defence named a newly developed computer language after her first name. Ada Lovelace was an inspiration in her time where it was a challenge for women in the scientific field, or really in any field where it was predominately men.
3. Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962)
Born in 1926, Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson, or Norma Jean Baker, and became a Hollywood icon between 1945 and 1962 as an actress, model, and singer. She was majorly successful in her career for her beauty. However, Marilyn was inevitably ahead of her time. She had a deep understanding of what the world wanted to see and was incredibly talented, and clearly ahead of her time and grew up with an increasingly traumatic childhood and relationship with her mother, she also struggled with intense addiction, depression and anxiety that a lot of people didn’t know how to deal with or support her at the time, even her own therapist. Despite all of this, Marilyn developed her image even before becoming Marilyn Monroe by playing the ditzy blonde bombshell, became one of the most popular “sex symbols” of the ’50s and 60s, and did anything she could to get into the industry, and took acting lessons to improve herself and not let leading men hog the spotlight, all throughout her career until she died in 1962. Her most notable film being Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. Still to this day, she is one of the most iconic women of all time, an inspiration to all who want to overcome their personal obstacles in order to achieve their best.
4. Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993)
Not only is she one of the most beautiful and classy actresses of her time, her most popular role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), one of my most favorite films ever, Audrey Hepburn was purposefully driven and determined, as well as an incredibly kind and compassionate human being. She exhibited effortless grace and elegance and played her fair share of damsels in distress in many of her films, but she also shared her own story about struggling to survive in the world recovering from war in the 40s. During that time, while her father was a Nazi sympathiser, Audrey couldn’t stand to be a bystander as she witnessed Nazis filling concentration camps with groups of Dutch Jews, so she would sneak money and food to the Dutch resistance, which is so risky and so amazing. She also performed in secret recitals for the Dutch nationalistic cause, and being trained in ballet, she volunteered to teach refugees. During the most active stage in her career and after, Audrey inspired women all around the world, not just through her films, which at the time predominantly focused on sex appeal from leading ladies such as the amazing Marilyn Monroe, directors found that she possessed star quality and that she was dedicated and loved by audiences. Additionally, was a humanitarian and worked with many charities, particularly UNICEF.
5. Princess Diana (1961 – 1997)
If any of you know who Princess Diana is/was or have watched and obsessed over Netflix’s most expensive and beautifully made show The Crown (2016 – Present) you know that this Princess didn’t have the best time coming into the Royal family. Apart from Diana marrying Prince Charles and although she did love him and he was in love with someone else, which wasn’t ideal, she was one of the most loved women in the world. Despite her shyness, she effortlessly connected with the public like no other royal ever did or has to this day and is described as the “people’s princess”. She changed the public’s view of the royal family and also broke some traditions, her affection and genuine kindness made people relate and her passion for human connection brought her close to people in need, getting involved in many charities close to her heart, raised awareness for people with cancer and mental health illnesses. None of this changed after her separation with the Prince of Wales and her title as Her Royal Highness relieved, she actually became stronger and possessed more freedom to express her own iconic style. Before her devastating and untimely death in 1997, the Princess continued to use her reputation to be accessible to the public and teach her sons the same kindness. She still is a truly inspiring woman, and someone we could all learn from.
(I also definitely recommend watching The Crown, it's brilliant).
Biography. 2020. Ada Lovelace. [online] Available at: <https://www.biography.com/scholar/ada-lovelace#:~:text=English%20mathem…;
Breakfast At Tiffany's. 1961. [film] Directed by B. Edwards. Jurow-Shepherd Spinel Entertainment: Paramount Pictures.Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 1953. [film] Directed by H. Hawks. United States: 20th Century Fox.
Frank, A. and O'Brien, T., 1947. The Diary Of A Young Girl. La Vergne: New Central Book Agency.
Ray, S., 2017. Why Audrey Hepburn Will Always Be More Than Just A ‘Pretty Face’. [online] YourStory.com. Available at: <https://yourstory.com/2017/05/life-of-audrey-hepburn#:~:text=It%20was%2…;.
Team, R., 2020. Top 10 Inspirational Women And Their Most Inspiring Quotes | Realbuzz.Com. [online] Realbuzz 5. Available at: <https://www.realbuzz.com/articles-interests/health/article/top-10-inspi…;
The Crown. 2016. [TV Series] Directed by P. Morgan and A. Eaton. United Kingdom: Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television.
