Mary Astell

Mary Astell

Mary Astell (12 November 1666 – 11 May 1731) was an English protofeminist writer, 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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Mary Astell has received more than 226,533 page views. Her biography is available in 21 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). Mary Astell is the 2,532nd most popular writer (down from 2,529th in 2019), the 1,931st most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,926th in 2019) and the 223rd most popular British Writer.