Many remarkable women in history have helped to push human civilization forward. They are the ones who spoke up, stood out, and made an impact. This is a list of 10 such remarkable women who broke silences, incited conversations, ignited movements, fought for rights, made new discoveries, or achieved the impossible.

01

Rosa Parks: My Story

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was a social activist for African-American civil rights in the United States of America. Her refusal to vacate her seat on a bus for a white passenger sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court that Alabama’s segregation laws were unlawful. Rosa Parks: My Story talks about how she became ‘the mother of the freedom movement’ and ‘the first lady of civil rights’ through her active role in the civil rights movement. It is a statement on the enormous effect one lady can have on an entire nation.

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02

Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life

Lisa Chaney

Coco Chanel was undoubtedly the most influential fashion designer of the 20th Century. Her extraordinary journey from poverty to glamour has inspired many people around the world. One of her many achievements was freeing women from the corset and popularising a more casual silhouette. Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life paints a darker and deeper picture of Coco Chanel and covers her astounding life which was full of struggle, success, glamour, and controversy.

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03

Unbreakable

M.C. Mary Kom

M. C. Mary Kom is a five-time world boxing champion and an Olympic bronze medallist. From her childhood as an agricultural labourer to becoming a world boxing champion, Unbreakable tells the story of her struggles, her marriage how she dealt with politics in sports, and her ultimate triumph. It is an inspiring tale of a woman who won against all odds and became ‘Magnificent Mary’.

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04

Marie Curie: A Life

Susan Quinn

Marie Curie was a Polish/French physicist and chemist, most famously known for winning two Nobel Prizes in the fields of Physics and Chemistry. Marie Curie: A Life unearths the complete story of a passionate and genius woman. It has accounts of her love for Pierre Curie and their achievements together, his gruesome death, and her love affair with a fellow scientist which caused a scandal that almost made her lose her second Nobel Prize.

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05

I Am Malala

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani social activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. The only teenager on this list of remarkable women, she spoke up about her right to education when the Taliban took control of her native place, Swat Valley, and banned girls from attending school. She was shot point-blank in the head on the bus home. Miraculously, she recovered and her story has sparked a movement for female emancipation. I Am Malala is an astonishing tale of voices against global terrorism, and the fight for girls’ education.

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06

Narrative Of Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth is one of the most admired African- American women in American history. She was born into slavery in 1797 but, thirty years later, she managed to escape with her infant daughter. She became a beacon of hope for African-American slaves as she sang, preached and debated. She was also the first black woman to go to court against a white man and win. Narrative Of Sojourner Truth provides details of her life as a slave in rural New York, her separation from her family, her travels, and her refusal to be held down because she was black and a woman.

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07

Kalpana Chawla: A Life

Anil Padmanabhan

Kalpana Chawla may be one of many pioneering women but the first Indian woman to go into space. Unfortunately, she died on her second mission to space while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. In Kalpana Chawla: A Life, Padmanabhan talks to Chawla’s friends, family, and colleagues to create an elaborate picture of a remarkable person whose life is proof that it is always possible to achieve your dreams, no matter how hard they may seem.

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08

Suffragette: My Own Story

Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst was the leader of the British suffragette movement that led to women winning the right to vote. Time Magazine included her in their list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In Suffragette: My Own Story, she discusses the beginning of her interest in feminism, her resilience despite repeated defeats of her proposed bills in parliament, and her struggles as she fought for women’s right to vote.

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09

Ada’s Algorithm: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age

James Essinger

Ada Lovelace was the world’s first programmer and worked with Charles Babbage to create the world’s first mechanical computer. Ada’s Algorithm makes the case that the computer age would have started 150 years earlier had Ada’s contemporaries realised the potential of her research. The book is not just about her work but also touches upon the struggles she faced in her private life, such as her father’s infamy and the attitudes towards women at the time, and how she overcame them.

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10

The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart

Mary S. Lovell

Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was a courageous and determined woman who went missing under mysterious circumstances on her attempt to fly around the world. The Sound of Wings contains original documents, letters, and interviews with Amelia’s friends, family, and rival aviators. It also delivers an extensive report on her childhood as a tomboy, her fascination with flying and her controversial marriage to George Putnam. Earhart remains one of the most fascinating and remarkable women in the world and the subject of many books.

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Have you read any of these biographies? Which other biographies of remarkable women would you recommend? Share with us in the comments.

Ankit Mahawar

Ankit Mahawar

Ankit loves stories, be it in any form- print, media or theatre. After reading Angels and Demons, he fell in love with books, especially suspense, thriller, and fantasy. He is a big fan of Harry Potter series. He quit his engineering career to become a writer and worked with The Curious Reader. Apart from writing he also loves filmmaking, photography, traveling and cooking. You can reach him on Instagram.