List of the world's most prominent women

This is a list in alphabetical order of the world's most prominent women, both past and present, based on a variety of sources (see below). It is still being developed and expanded. Further lists by continent or country are under consideration.

List

1. Jane Addams (1860–1935), pioneering American social worker and women's rights activist

   
2. Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), Austrian-born Queen Consort of France

   
3. Corazon Aquino (1933–2009), Filipina politician, President of the Philippines

   
4. Anna Atkins (1799–1871), early English photographer

   
5. Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945), Burmese politician, State Counsellor of Myanmar

   
6. Jane Austen (1775–1817), English novelist

   
7. Josephine Baker (1906–1975), American vaudeville dancer and entertainer

   
8. Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916–2000), Sri Lankan politician, modern world's first female head of government

   
9. Mary Barra (born 1961), American business executive, CEO of General Motors Company

   
10. Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1968), French philosopher and writer

    
11. Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), English traveller, explorer and administrator

    
12. Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), French actress

    
13. Annie Besant (1847–1933), British women's rights activist, writer and orator

    
14. Liliane Bettencourt (1922–2017), French businesswoman, world's richest woman

    File:Liliane Bettencourt Portrait Painting Collage By Danor Shtruzman.jpg
15. Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007), Pakistani politician

    
16. Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891), Russian occultist

    
17. Karen Blixen (1885–1962), Danish writer

    
18. Enid Blyton (1897–1968), English children's writer

    
19. Boudica (died ca, 60 AD), leader of the early Britons

    
20. Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist

    
21. Gro Harlem Brundtland (born 1939), Norwegian politician, Prime Minister of Norway

    
22. Carla Bruni (born 1967), Italian-French singer and songwriter, First Lady of the French Republic

    
23. Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), American novelist, Nobel Literature laureate

    
24. Maria Callas (1923–1977), Greek-American soprano opera singer

    
25. Catherine the Great (1728–1796), Empress of Russia

    
26. Coco Chanel (1883–1971), French fashion designer and businesswoman

    
27. Eileen Chang (1920–1995), Chinese writer

    
28. Agatha Christie (1890–1976), English crime novelist and playwright

    
29. Cleopatra (69–30 BC), Egyptian ruler

    
30. Hillary Clinton (born 1947), American politician

    
31. Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), Mexican nun, writer and philosopher

    
32. Marie Curie (1867–1934), Polish-French physicist and chemist

    
33. Princess Diana (1961–1997), British Princess of Wales

    
34. Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992), German-American actress and singer

    
35. Isadora Duncan (1877–1878), American modern dancer

    
36. Amelia Earhart (1897–1937), pioneering American aviator

    
37. Shirin Ebadi (born 1947), Iranian lawyer and human rights activist

    
38. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), Queen Consort of France and later of England

    
39. Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England and Ireland

    
40. Elisabeth II (born 1926), Queen of the United Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth

    
41. Cesária Évora (1941–2011), Cape Verdean morna singer

    
42. Renée Fleming (born 1959), American soprano opera singer

    
43. Margot Fonteyn (1919–1991), English ballet dancer

    
44. Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist

    
45. Aretha Franklin (born 1942), American singer and songwriter

    
46. Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), English chemist and X-ray crystallographer

    
47. Indira Gandhi (1917–1984), Indian politician

    
48. Sonia Gandhi (born 1946), Italian-born Indian politician

    
49. Melinda Gates (born 1964), co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

    
50. Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), Iraqi-British architect

    File:Zaha Hadid 2015.jpg
51. Mata Hari (1876–1917), Dutch exotic dancer, executed for spying

    
52. Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993), British film actress

    
53. Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), German astronomer

    
54. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), German abbess, writer and visionary

    
55. Dorothy Hodgkin (1910–1994), British chemist and Nobel chemistry prize winner

    
56. Grace Hopper (1906–1992), American computer scientist

    
57. Hypatia of Alexandria (ca. 350–415), Greek mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and educator

    
58. Michaëlle Jean (born 1957), Canadian stateswoman

    
59. Joan of Arc (1412–1431), French heroine

    
60. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexican painter

    
61. Helen Keller (1880–1968), deaf-blind American writer and political activist

    
62. Grace Kelly (1929–1982), American actress and Princess of Monaco

    
63. Billie Jean King (born 1943), American tennis player and gender equality activist

    
64. Melanie Klein (1882–1960), Austrian-British psychoanalyst

    
65. Umm Kulthum (1898–1975), Egyptian singer and actress

    
66. Yayoi Kusama (born 1929), Japanese artist, avant-garde painter and writer

    File:Yayoi Kusama signing.jpg
67. Christine Lagarde (born 1956), French politician, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund

    
68. Estée Lauder (1908–2004), American businesswoman specializing in cosmetics

    
69. Jenny Lind (1820–1887), Swedish opera singer

    
70. Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002), Swedish children's writer

    
71. Audre Lorde (1934–1992), American writer, feminist and civil rights activist

    
72. Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), English mathematician

    
73. Ida Lupino (1918–1995), Anglo-American actress, singer and film director

    
74. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), Polish-German socialist politician

    
75. Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), Kenyan political activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

    
76. Madonna (born 1958), American singer and actress

    
77. Miriam Makeba (1932–2008), South African musician and civil rights activist

    
78. Mary Magdalene (1st century AD), biblical figure, follower of Jesus

    
79. Winnie Mandela (born 1936), South African politician

    
80. Margaret Mead (1901–1978), American cultural anthopologist

    
81. Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589), Italian noblewoman, influential queen consort of France

    
82. Meera (1498–1546), Indian Hindu mystic

    
83. Golda Meir (1917–1956), Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel

    
84. Rigoberta Menchú (born 1959), Guatemalan civil and women's rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize lauteate

    
85. Angela Merkel (born 1954), German politician

    
86. Lise Meitner (1878–1968), Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist

    
87. Lee Miller (1907–1977), American photographer and war correspondent

    File:Lee Miller.jpg
88. Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), American actress and model

    
89. Maria Montessori (1870–1952), Italian physician and educator

    
90. Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), French impressionist painter

    
91. Alice Munro (born 1931), Canadian short story writer

    
92. Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 973–1014), Japanese novelist

    
93. Nefertiti (ca. 1370–1330), Egytian queen

    
94. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), English social reformer, founder of modern nursing

    
95. Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (1583-1663), Angolan queen of the Mbundu people

    
96. Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986), American modernist artist

    
97. Michelle Obama (born 1964), American lawyer, First Lady of the United States

    
98. Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793), French playwright, political activist and feminist

    
99. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994), First Lady of the United States

    
100. Camille Paglia (born 1947), American academic and social critic

     
101. Anna Pavlova (1881–1931), Russian ballet dancer

     
102. Édith Piaf (1915–1963), French cabaret singer and songwriter

     
103. Rosa Parks (1913–2005), American civil rights activist

     
104. Eva Perón (1919–1952), First Lady of Argentina

     
105. Jiang Qing (1914–1991), Chinese politician, active in the Cultural Revolution

     
106. Qiu Jin (1875–1907), Chinese feminist, revolutionary and writer

     File:Qiujin.gif
107. Ayn Rand (1905–1882), Russian-American writer

     File:Ayn Rand.jpg
108. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900–1978), Nigerian political campaigner and women's rights activist

     
109. Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003), German film director, screenwriter and actress

     
110. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), American politician, activist and First Lady

     
111. Dilma Rousseff (born 1974), Brazilian economist, former President of Brazil

     
112. J. K. Rowling (born 1965), British novelist, writer of the Harry Potter series

     
113. Sheryl Sandberg (born 1969), American technology executive

     
114. Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), American birth control activist

     
115. Sappho (630–570 BC), ancient Greek poet

     
116. Clara Schumann (1819–1896), German musician and composer

     
117. Irena Sendler (1910–2008), Polish nurse, social worker and Jewish resistance leader

     
118. Mary Shelley (1797–1851), English novelist

     
119. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (born 1942), Icelandic politician, world's first openly lesbian head of government

     
120. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938), President of Liberia

     
121. Soong Ching-ling (1893–1981), Chinese politician

     
122. Gloria Steinem (born 1934), American feminist leader

     
123. Meryl Streep (born 1949), American actress

     
124. Joan Sutherland (1926–2010), Australian colatura soprano

     
125. Kiri Te Kanawa (born 1944), New Zealand soprano

     
126. Mother Teresa (1910–1997), Albanian-Indian nun and missionary

     
127. Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937), Russian cosmonaut, first woman in space

     
128. Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), British politician

     
129. Margrethe Vestager (born 1968), Danish politician, European Commissioner for Competition

     
130. Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

     
131. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), English philosopher and women's rights advocate

     
132. Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), English modernist writer

     
133. Janet Yellen (born 1946), American economist, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

     
134. Malala Yousafzai (born 1997), Pakistani women's education activist, Nobel Prize laureate

     

Works consulted

• Addams, Jane (18 November 2010). "The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century". Time.
• Apotheker, Jan; Sarkadi, Livia Simon (2011). European Women in Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-3-527-63646-4. Search this book on
• Ashby, Ruth; Ohrn, Deborah Gore, eds. (1995). Herstory: women who changed the world. New York, New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-85434-4. Search this book on
• "Famous Women in Modern History". HistoryNet. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
• Hartley, Cathy (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-228-2. Search this book on
• Helleberg, Maria (2015). Kvinder der forandrede verden (in Danish). Informations Forlag. ISBN 978-87-7514-861-5.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Kuiper, Kathleen (December 2009). The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-1-61530-010-5. Search this book on
• Merritt, Alicia, ed. (2006). Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-770-8. Search this book on
• Resch, Yannick (2009). 200 femmes célèbres: Des origines à nos jours (PDF) (in French). Eyrolles. ISBN 978-2-212-54291-2.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Rosenberg, Jennifer (2017). "100 Famous Women of the 20th Century". ThoughtCo.
• Showalter, Elaine; Baechler, Lea; Litz, A. Walton (1993). Modern American Women Writers. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-02-082025-3. Search this book on
• Smith, Bonnie G. (2005). Women's History in Global Perspective. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02997-4. Search this book on
• Vega, Carlos B. (2003). Conquistadoras: Mujeres Heroicas de la Conquista de America (in Spanish). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8208-5.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• "Women who changed the world". Biography Online. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
• "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved 9 October 2017.

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