Mary Wollstonecraft

Novelist

Birthday April 27, 1759

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace England

DEATH DATE Sep 10, 1797 (38)

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About

Famous for her 1792 treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, this writer and early feminist philosopher is also notable for her posthumously-published work Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman, as well as for a travel-themed publication titled Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

Before Fame

She published her debut work, Mary: A Fiction, in 1788.

Trivia

She had a brief romantic affair with the Swiss artist and writer Henry Fuseli.

Family Life

In early 1797, on the heels of a tumultuous relationship with American writer and businessman Gilbert Imlay that resulted in an illegitimate daughter, Wollstonecraft married fellow writer and political philosopher William Godwin. She died shortly after giving birth to her second child, future Frankenstein novelist Mary Shelley (born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin).

Associated With

Her nonfiction works on the topic of children's education were influenced by the ideas of philosopher John Locke.