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whiterosechrista · 8 months ago

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Famous/Important Women?

I'm trying to make a list of notable women in history (mostly for fun, partially to use against misogynists who think men did everything), and kinda not wanting to just look up a list online.

So; I'd like anyone who sees this post to add to the list. Even if all you can remember is a name and basic details, that's enough (I myself am mostly operating off memory, and then looking up details to fill in the blanks). If possible though, a date of birth/death and what they're most known for would be great, since those are the details I'm focusing on right now.

I'll add all new people/details to a list here on Tumblr so we're all on the same page info-wise.

Edit; pinning this post both so I don't have to scroll millions of miles and so it's easier for people to find (I should probably be pinning my intro post instead but whatever).

List so far:

Enheduanna (𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾), Birthdate unknown (c. 23rd century BCE), death date unknown (c. 23rd century BCE). High Priestess of Nanna/Sin (Sumerian Moon God), Daughter of Sargon (Founder of the Akkadian Empire), Earliest Known Named Author in History.

Nitocris (Greek: Νίτωκρις). Birthdate Unknown (c. 22nd century BCE), death date unknown (c. 22nd century BCE). Possible Queen of Egypt; If So, Would Have Been the Last Queen of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (c.2686 – 2181 BC).

Sobekneferu (Neferusobek). Birthdate unknown (mid 18th century BC), death date unknown (mid 18th century BC). Queen of Egypt, the Last Ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, Reign Lasted 3 Years, 10 Months, and 24 days, Ending in c. 1802 BC.

Hatshepsut. Born ~1507 BC, died 1458 BC. Queen of Egypt (c. 1479 – 1458 BC), Fifth Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, Prolific Builder, Reigned in Peace and Prosperity.

Sappho (Modern Greek: Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ), Aeolic Greek: Ψάπφω (Psápphō)). Born c. 630 BC, died c. 570 BC. Ancient Greek Poetess, Famous for Love Poems, Symbol of Lesbian Love, Known as “The Tenth Muse”.

Timarete (Thamyris, Tamaris, Thamar (Greek: Τιμαρέτη)). Birthdate unknown (c. 5th century BC), death date unknown (c. 5th century BC). Ancient Greek Painter; According to Pliny the Elder, She "Scorned the Duties of Women and Practiced Her Father's Art." At the Time of Archelaus I of Macedon She Was Best Known for a Panel Painting of the Goddess Diana That Was Kept at the City of Ephesus.

Helena of Egypt. Birthdate unknown (4th century BC), death date unknown (c. 4th century BC). Painter, Learned From Her Father, Worked in the Period After the Death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Painted a Scene of Alexander Defeating the Persian Ruler, Darius III, at the Battle of Issus.

Kalypso. Birthdate unknown (c. 3rd century BC), death date unknown. Supposed Ancient Greek Painter (existence disputed).

Aristaineta. Birthdate unknown (3rd century BCE), death date unknown (3rd century BCE). Aetolian Woman, Dedicated a Large Monument at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi Which Included Her Mother, Father, Son, and Herself, Which Was a Symbol of Social Status Usually Reserved For the Male Head of the Family.

The Vestal Three (Aemilia, Licinia and Marcia). Born in the 2nd century BC, died December, 114 BC (Aemilia), and 113 BC (Licinia and Marcia). Roman Vestal Virgins (Priestesses), Prosecuted For Having Broken the Vow of Chastity in Two Famous Trials Between 115 and 113 BC.

Iaia of Cyzicus (Ιαία της Κυζίκου). Born c. 2nd century BC, died c. 1st century BC. Famous Greek Painter and Ivory Carver, Most of Her Paintings are Said to Have Been of Women. According to Pliny the Elder; "No One Had a Quicker Hand Than She in Painting." Remained Unmarried All Her Life.

Cleopatra (Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator). Born ~69 BC, died August 10, 30 BC. Queen of Egypt (51 – 30 BC), Last Active Ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Only Known Ptolemaic Ruler to Learn the Egyptian Language.

Soseono (소서노) (Yeon Soseono (연소서노)). Born 66/7 BCE, died 6 BCE. Queen Consort of Goguryeo, One of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (37 – 18 BC), Queen dowager of Baekje (Another of the Three Kingdoms) (18 – 6 BC), Founder of Baekje (18 BC).

Heo Hwang-ok (허황옥) (Empress Boju (보주태후)). Born 32 AD, died 189 AD. Legendary Queen of Geumgwan Gaya, Mentioned in Samguk yusa (a 13th-Century Korean Chronicle), Believed to Originally be From India.

Septimia Zenobia (𐡡𐡶𐡦𐡡𐡩, Bat-Zabbai). Born ~240, died ~274. Queen of Palmyra (267 – 272), Queen of Egypt (270 – 272), Empress of Palmyra (272).

Hypatia. Born c. 350–370 AD, died March, 415 AD. Neoplatonist Philosopher, Astronomer, and Mathematician, Prominent Thinker in Alexandria, Taught Philosophy and Astronomy, Beloved by Pagans and Christians Alike.

Seondeok of Silla (선덕여왕) (Kim Deokman (덕만)). Born c. 580 or 610, died 20 February, 647. Queen of Silla, One of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (632 – 647), Silla's Twenty-Seventh Ruler and First Reigning Queen, Known as a Wise and Kind Monarch.

Jindeok of Silla (진덕여왕) (Kim Seungman (김승만)). Birthdate unknown, died 654. Queen of Silla, One of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (647 – 654), Silla’s Twenty-Eighth Ruler and Second Reigning Queen, Greatly Improved Relations With China.

Jinseong of Silla (진성여왕) (Kim Man (김만)). Born c. 865, died 897. Queen of Silla, One of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (887-897), Silla’s Fifty-First Ruler, Third and Last Reigning Queen, Said to be Smart by Nature, But Whose Reign Saw the Weakening of Unified Silla.

Ende (En). Born c. 10th Century AD, died c. 10th Century AD. First Spanish Female Manuscript Illuminator to Have Her Work Documented Through Inscription.

Diemoth (Latinized: Diemudus, Diemut, Diemud, Diemuth, Diemod or Diemudis). Born c. 1060, died c. 30 March, 1130. Recluse at Wessobrunn Abbey in Upper Bavaria, Germany, Worked on 45 Manuscripts From 1075 to 1130.

Lǐ Qīngzhào (李清照) (a.k.a. Yian Jushi (易安居士)). Born 1084, died c.1155. Chinese Poet and Essayist, Defiant Visionary, Known as “The Most Talented Woman In History.”

Gunnborga (a.k.a Gunnborga den Goda (literary: 'Gunnborga the Good')). Born c. 11th century, died c. 11th century. Viking Age Swedish Runemaster, Responsible for the Hälsingland Rune Inscription 21, Known as the Only Confirmed Female Runemaster.

Hildegard of Bingen (German: Hildegard von Bingen, Latin: Hildegardis Bingensis, a.k.a Saint Hildegard/the “Sibyl of the Rhine”). Born c. 1098, died 17 September, 1179. German Benedictine Abbess and Polymath, Active as a Writer, Composer, Philosopher, Mystic, Visionary, and Medical Writer/Practitioner During the High Middle Ages.

Matilda of England (Empress Matilda, Empress Maude, the “Lady of the English”). Born c. 7 February, 1102, died 10 September, 1167. Holy Roman Empress (1114 – 1125), Disputed Queen of England (1141 – 1148).

Guda. Born 12th Century AD, died 12th Century AD. German Nun and Illuminator, One of the First Women to Create a Self-Portrait in a Manuscript.

Herrad of Landsberg (Latin: Herrada Landsbergensis). Born c. 1130, died July 25, 1195. Alsatian Nun and Abbess of Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges Mountains, Known as the Author of the Pictorial Encyclopedia Hortus Deliciarum (The Garden of Delights) (completed in 1185).

Claricia (Clarica). Born c. 12th Century AD, died c. 13th Century AD. German Laywoman and Illuminator, Noted for Including a Self-Portrait in a South German Psalter of c. 1200.

Jefimija (Јефимија) (Jelena Mrnjavčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Мрњавчевић)). Born 1349, died 1405. Considered the First Female Serbian Poet. Her Lament for a Dead Son and Encomium of Prince Lazar are Famous in the Canon of Medieval Serbian Literature. Also a Skilled Needlewoman and Engraver.

Christine de Pizan (Cristina da Pizzano). Born September, 1364, died c. 1430. Italian-Born French Poet and Court Writer for King Charles VI of France and Several French Dukes. Considered to be One of the Earliest Feminist Writers; Her Work Includes Novels, Poetry, and Biography, and also Literary, Historical, Philosophical, Political, and Religious Reviews and Analyses.

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc, Jehanne Darc). Born ~1412, died 30 May, 1431. French Knight, Martyr, and Saint, Burned at the Stake.

Catherine of Bologna (Caterina de' Vigri). Born 8 September, 1413, died 9 March, 1463. Italian Poor Clare, Writer, Teacher, Mystic, Artist, and Saint; The Patron Saint of Artists and Against Temptations.

Elena de Laudo. Born c. 15th Century AD, died c. 15th Century AD. Venetian Glass Artist, Belonged to a Glass Painter Family of Murano, is Noted to Have Painted Blanks Delivered to Her From the Workshop of Salvatore Barovier in 1443–1445.

Maria Ormani (Maria di Ormanno degli Albizzi). Born 1428, died c. 1470. Italian Augustinian Hermit Nun-Scribe and Manuscript Illustrator, Most Notable Work is an Apparent Self-Portrait in a Breviary That She Signed and Dated 1453; the Earliest Dated Self-Portrait by a Woman Artist in Italian Renaissance Art.

Sister Barbara Ragnoni (Suor Barbara Ragnoni). Born 1448, died 1533. Italian Nun and Artist for Whom Only One Work Remains Extant; Her Signed Painting, The Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1500).

Antonia Uccello. Born 1456, died 1491. Carmelite Nun, Noted as a "Pittoressa" (Painter) on Her Death Certificate; Her Style and Skill Remain a Mystery as None of Her Work is Extant.

Marietta Barovier. Born 15th Century AD, died c. 15th/16th Century AD. Venetian Glass Artist, the Artist Behind a Particular Glass Design from Venetian Murano; the Glass Bead Called Rosette or Chevron Bead, in 1480. In 1487 She Was Noted to Have Been Given the Privilege to Construct a Special Kiln (Sua Fornace Parrula) for Making "Her Beautiful, Unusual and Not Blown Works".

Catherine of Aragon (Katherine, Catharina, Catalina). Born 16 December, 1485, died 7 January, 1536. First Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England (1509 – 1533).

Properzia de' Rossi. Born c. 1490, died 1530. Ground-Breaking Female Italian Renaissance Sculptor, One of Only Four Women to Receive a Biography in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists.

Anne Boleyn. Born c. 1501 or 1507, died 19 May, 1536. Second Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England (1533 – 1536), Martyr, Executed on False Charges.

Jane Seymour. Born c. 1508, died 24 October, 1537. Third Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England (1536 – 1537), Died of Postnatal Complications.

Levina Teerlinc. Born in the 1510s, died 23 June, 1576. Flemish Renaissance Miniaturist who Served as a Painter to the English Court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Catherine Parr (Kateryn Parr). Born c. August, 1512, died 5 September, 1548. Sixth Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England and Ireland (1543 – 1547), First English Woman to Publish an Original Work Under Her Own Name, Widowed, Remarried, Died in Childbirth.

Anne of Cleves (Anna von Kleve). Born 28 June or 22 September, 1515, died 16 July, 1557. Fourth Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England (6 January 1540 – 12 July 1540), Marriage Annulled, Outlived All Other Wives.

Mary I of England (Mary Tudor). Born 18 February, 1516, died 17 November, 1558. First Undisputed Regnant Queen of England and Ireland (1553 – 1558), Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

Mayken Verhulst (a.k.a. Marie Bessemers). Born 1518, died 1596 or 1599. 16th-Century Flemish Miniature, Tempera and Watercolor Painter and Print Publisher, Actively Engaged in the Workshop of Her Husband, Posthumously Publishing His Works. While Recognized as an Exceptionally Skilled Artist, Little is Known About Her Works or Life as There are Few Surviving Sources.

Catherine Howard (Katheryn Howard). Born c. 1523, died 13 February, 1542. Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII, Queen Consort of England (1540 – 1541), Stripped of Title, Beheaded for ‘Treason’.

Sister Plautilla Nelli (Pulisena Margherita Nelli). Born 1524, died 1588. Self-Taught Nun-Artist, the First Ever Known Female Renaissance Painter of Florence, and the Only Renaissance Woman Known to Have Painted the Last Supper.

Caterina van Hemessen (Catharina van Hemessen). Born 1528, died after 1565. Flemish Renaissance Painter, the Earliest Female Flemish Painter for Whom There is Verifiable Extant Work, Possibly Created the First Self-Portrait of an Artist (of Either Gender) Depicted Seated at an Easel (1548).

Sofonisba Anguissola (a.k.a Sophonisba Angussola or Sophonisba Anguisciola). Born c. 1532, died 16 November, 1625. Italian Renaissance Painter, Born to a Relatively Poor Noble Family, Got a Well-Rounded Education That Included the Fine Arts; Her Apprenticeship With Local Painters Set a Precedent for Women to be Accepted as Students of Art.

Elizabeth I of England (Elizabeth Tudor, the “Virgin Queen”). Born 7 September, 1533, died 24 March, 1603. Regnant Queen of England and Ireland (1558 – 1603), Last Monarch of the House of Tudor, Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

Lucia Anguissola. Born 1536 or 1538, died c. 1565 – 1568. Italian Mannerist Painter of the Late Renaissance, Younger Sister of Sofonisba, Who She Likely Trained With.

Lady Jane Grey (Lady Jane Dudley (married name)). Born ~1537, died 12 February, 1554. Queen of England for ~9 days (~10 July, 1553 – 19 July, 1553) (disputed), First Cousin Once Removed of Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart). Born 8 December, 1542, died 8 February, 1587. Queen of Scotland (1542 – 1567), Forced Abdication, Imprisonment, Execution.

Diana Scultori (a.k.a Diana Mantuana & Diana Ghisi). Born 1547, died 5 April, 1612. Italian Engraver From Mantua, Italy; One of the Earliest Known Women Printmakers, Making Mostly Reproductive Engravings of Well-Known Paintings/Drawings and Ancient Roman Sculptures.

Lavinia Fontana. Born 24 August, 1552, died 11 August, 1614. Italian Mannerist Painter, Active in Bologna and Rome, Best Known for Her Successful Portraiture, but Also Worked in the Genres of Mythology and Religious Painting, Regarded as the First Female Career Artist in Western Europe.

Barbara Longhi. Born 21 September, 1552, died 23 December, 1638. Italian Painter, Much Admired in Her Lifetime as a Portraitist, Though Most of Her Portraits are Now Lost or Unattributed.

Marietta Robusti. Born 1560, died 1590. Highly Skilled Venetian Painter of the Renaissance Period, the Daughter of Tintoretto (Jacobo Robusti), Sometimes Referred to as Tintoretta.

Elizabeth Báthory (Báthori Erzsébet). Born 7 August, 1560, died 21 August, 1614. Hungarian Countess, Subject of Folklore, Alleged Serial Killer.

Esther Inglis. Born 1571, died 1624. Skilled Artisan and Miniaturist Who Possessed Several Skills in Areas Such as Calligraphy, Writing, and Embroidering; Over the Course of Her Life, She Composed Around Sixty Miniature Books That Display Her Calligraphic Skill With Paintings, Portraits, and Embroidered Covers.

Galizia (Fede Galizia). Born c. 1578, died c. 1630. Italian Painter of Still-Lifes, Portraits, and Religious Pictures, Especially Noted as a Painter of Still-Lifes of Fruit, a Genre in Which She Was One of the Earliest Practitioners in European Art.

Izumo no Okuni (出雲阿国). Born c. 1578, died c. 1613. Actress, Shrine Maiden, Creator of Kabuki Theater (1603 – 1610), Recruited Lower-Class Women For Her Troupe, Primarily Prostitutes.

Clara Peeters. Born c. 1580s/90s, death date unknown. Flemish Still-Life Painter From Antwerp Who Worked in Both the Spanish Netherlands and Dutch Republic. Was the Best-Known Female Flemish Artist of This Era and One of the Few Women Artists Working Professionally in 17th-Century Europe, Despite Restrictions on Women's Access to Artistic Training and Membership in Guilds.

Artemisia Gentileschi (Artemisia Lomi). Born 8 July, 1593, died c. 1656. Italian Baroque Painter, Considered Among the Most Accomplished 17th-Century Artists, Making Professional Work by Age 15. In an Era When Women Had Few Chances to Pursue Artistic Training/Work as Professional Artists, She Was the First Woman to Become a Member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno and Had an International Clientele. Much of Her Work Features Women From Myths, Allegories, and the Bible, Including Victims, Suicides, and Warriors.

Magdalena van de Passe. Born 1600, died 1638. Dutch Engraver, Member of the Van de Passe Family of Artists From Cologne, Active in the Northern Netherlands. Specialized in Landscapes and Portraits, and Trained the Polymath Anna Maria van Schurman in Engraving, One of the Few Known Early Examples of the Training of One Woman Artist by Another.

Giovanna Garzoni. Born 1600, died 1670. Italian Painter of the Baroque Period; Began Her Career Painting Religious, Mythological, and Allegorical Subjects but Gained Fame For Her Botanical Subjects Painted in Tempera and Watercolor.

Michaelina Wautier (Michaelina Woutiers). Born 1604, died 1689. Baroque Painter From the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium), Noted For the Variety of Subjects and Genres She Worked in, Unusual For Female Artists of the Time, Who Were More Often Restricted to Smaller Paintings, Generally Portraits or Still-Lifes.

Judith Leyster (Judith Jans Leyster (also Leijster)). Born in July, 1609, died February 10, 1660. Dutch Golden Age Painter of Genre Works, Portraits, and Still-Lifes. Her Work Was Highly Regarded by Her Contemporaries, but Largely Forgotten After Her Death. Her Entire Oeuvre Came to be Attributed to Frans Hals or to Her Husband, Jan Miense Molenaer. In 1893, She Was Rediscovered and Scholars Began to Attribute Her Works Correctly.

Louise Moillon. Born 1610, died 1696. French Still-Life Painter in the Baroque Era, Became Known as One of the Best Still-Life Painters of Her Time, Her Work Purchased by King Charles I of England, as Well as French Nobility.

Catharina Peeters. Born 1615, died 1676. Flemish Baroque Painter, Noted For Painting Seascapes.

Katharina Pepijn (Catharina Pepijn). Born in February, 1619, died 12 November, 1688. Flemish Painter Who Was Known For Her History Paintings and Portraits.

Josefa de Óbidos (Josefa de Ayala Figueira). Born c. January, 1630, died 22 July, 1684. Spanish-Born Portuguese Painter. All of Her Work Was Executed in Portugal, Her Father's Native Country, Where She Lived From the Age of Four. Approximately 150 Works of Art Have Been Attributed to Her, Making Her One of the Most Prolific Baroque Artists in Portugal.

Maria van Oosterwijck (Maria van Oosterwyck). Born 20/27 August, 1630, died 1693. Dutch Golden Age Painter, Specializing in Richly-Detailed Flower Paintings and Other Still-Lifes. Despite the Fact That Her Paintings Were Highly Sought Out by Collectors (Including Royalty), She Was Denied Membership in the Painters' Guild Because Women Weren’t Allowed to Join. Stayed Single Throughout Her Life, but Raised Her Orphaned Nephew.

Johanna Vergouwen (Jeanne Vergouwen, Joanna Vergouwen). Born 1630, died 11 March, 1714. Flemish Baroque Painter, Copyist, and Art Dealer.

Mary Beale (née Cradock). Born in late March, 1633, died 8 October, 1699. English Portrait Painter and Writer, Part of a Small Band of Female Professional Artists Working in London. Her Manuscript Observations (1663), on the Materials and Techniques Employed "in Her Painting of Apricots", Though Not Printed, is the Earliest Known Instructional Text in English Written by a Female Painter.

Elisabetta Sirani. Born 8 January, 1638, died 28 August, 1665. Italian Baroque Painter and Printmaker Who Died in Unexplained Circumstances at the Age of 27. She Was One of the First Women Artists in Early Modern Bologna, and Established an Academy for Other Women Artists.

Maria Theresia van Thielen. Born 7 March, 1640, died 11 February, 1706. Flemish Baroque Painter, Known for Several Flower Pieces and Outdoor Still-Lifes Painted in the Style of Her Father, Jan Philip van Thielen.

Anna Maria van Thielen. Born 1641, death date unknown. Flemish Baroque Painter and Nun, Younger Sister of Maria Theresia, Older Sister of Fransisca Catharina.

Maria Borghese (Maria Virginia Teresa Borghese). Born 1642, died 1718. Italian Baroque Artist, Daughter of Art Collector Olimpia Aldobrandini.

Francisca Catharina van Thielen. Born 1645, death date unknown. Flemish Baroque Painter and Nun, Younger Sister of Maria Theresia and Anna Maria.

Maria Sibylla Merian. Born 2 April, 1647, died 13 January, 1717. German Entomologist, Naturalist and Scientific Illustrator, One of the Earliest European Naturalists to Document Observations About Insects Directly.

Élisabeth Sophie Chéron. Born 3 October, 1648, died 3 September, 1711. Remembered Today Primarily as a French Painter, but She Was a Renaissance Woman, Acclaimed in Her Lifetime as a Gifted Poet, Musician, Artist, and Academician.

Luisa Roldán (Luisa Ignacia Roldán, a.k.a La Roldana). Born 8 September, 1652, died 10 January, 1706. Spanish Sculptor of the Baroque Era, the Earliest Woman Sculptor Documented in Spain. Recognized in the Hispanic Society Museum For Being "One of the Few Women Artists to Have Maintained a Studio Outside the Convents in Golden Age Spain".

Rachel Ruysch. Born 3 June, 1664, died 12 October, 1750. Dutch Still-Life Painter From the Northern Netherlands. She Specialized in Flowers, Inventing Her Own Style and Achieving International Fame in Her Lifetime. Due to a Long, Successful Career That Spanned Over Six Decades, She Became the Best-Documented Woman Painter of the Dutch Golden Age.

Anne, Queen of Great Britain. Born 6 February, 1665, died 1 August, 1714. Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1702 – 1707), First Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1707 – 1714).

Isabel de Cisneros (Isabel de Santiago). Born 1666, died c. 1714. Criollo Colonial Painter Born in the Colony of Quito (Ecuador), Specialized in Oil Paintings of the Childhood of the Virgin and of the Baby Jesus, Adorned With Flowers and Animals.

Rosalba Carriera. Born 12 January, 1673, died 15 April, 1757. Venetian Rococo Painter; In Her Younger Years She Specialized in Portrait Miniatures, Would Later Become Known For Her Pastel Portraits, Helping Popularize the Medium in 18th-Century Europe. She is Remembered as One of the Most Successful Women Artists of Any Era.

Giulia Lama (Giulia Elisabetta Lama). Born 1 October, 1681, died 7/8 October, 1747. Italian Painter, Active in Venice. Her Dark, Tense Style Contrasted With the Dominant Pastel Colors of the Late Baroque Era. She Was One of the First Female Artists to Study the Male Figure Nude.

Anna Dorothea Therbusch (born Anna Dorothea Lisiewski (Polish: Anna Dorota Lisiewska)). Born 23 July, 1721, died 9 November, 1782. Prominent Rococo Painter Born in the Kingdom of Prussia (Modern-Day Poland). About 200 of Her Works Survive, and She Painted at Least Eighty-Five Verified Portraits.

Catherine the Great (Catherine II, Екатерина Алексеевна (Yekaterina Alekseyevna), born Princess Sophie Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst). Born 2 May, 1729, died 17 November, 1796. Reigning Empress of Russia (1762 – 1796), Came to Power After Overthrowing Her Husband, Peter III. Under Her Long Reign, Russia Experienced a Renaissance of Culture and Sciences.

Ulrika Pasch (Ulrika "Ulla" Fredrica Pasch). Born 10 July, 1735, died 2 April, 1796. Swedish Rococo Painter and Miniaturist, and a Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts.

Angelica Kauffman (Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann). Born 30 October, 1741, died 5 November, 1807. Swiss Neoclassical Painter Who Had a Successful Career in London and Rome. Remembered Primarily as a History Painter, She Was a Skilled Portraitist, Landscape and Decoration Painter. She Was, Along With Mary Moser, One of Two Female Painters Among the Founding Members of the Royal Academy in London in 1768.

Mary Moser. Born 27 October, 1744, died 2 May, 1819. English Painter and One of the Most Celebrated Female Artists of 18th-Century Britain. One of Only Two Female Founding Members of the Royal Academy in 1768 (Along With Angelica Kauffman), She Painted Portraits But is Particularly Noted For Her Depictions of Flowers.

Anne Vallayer-Coster. Born 21 December, 1744, died 28 February, 1818. Major 18th-Century French Painter, Best Known For Still-Lifes. She Achieved Fame and Recognition Very Early in Her Career, Being Admitted to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1770, at the Age of Twenty-Six. Her Life Was Determinedly Private, Dignified and Hard-Working.

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (née Labille/a.k.a Adélaïde Labille-Guiard des Vertus). Born 11 April, 1749, died 24 April, 1803. French Miniaturist and Portrait Painter, Was an Advocate for Women to Receive the Same Opportunities as Men to Become Great Painters. She Was One of the First Women to Become a Member of the Royal Academy, and Was the First Female Artist to Receive Permission to Set Up a Studio for Her Students at the Louvre.

Marianne Mozart (Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart). Born 30 July, 1751, died 29 October, 1829. Musician (c. 1759 – 1769), Music Teacher (1772 – 1829), Sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, born Élisabeth Louise Vigée, a.k.a. Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Madame Le Brun). Born 16 April, 1755, died 30 March, 1842. French Painter Who Mostly Specialized in Portrait Painting, in the Late 18th/Early 19th Centuries, Made a Name For Herself in Ancien Régime Society by Serving as the Portrait Painter to Marie Antoinette, Enjoyed the Patronage of European Aristocrats, Actors, and Writers, and Was Elected to Art Academies in Ten Cities.

Marie Antoinette (Maria Antonia). Born 2 November, 1755, died 16 October, 1793. Last Queen of France (1774 – 1792), Bad Reputation, Executed by Guillotine.

Maria Cosway (Maria Luisa Caterina Cecilia Cosway (née Hadfield)). Born 11 June, 1760, died 5 January, 1838. Italian-English Painter, Musician, and Educator, Worked in England, France, and Later Italy, Cultivating a Large Circle of Friends and Clients. Founded a Girls' School in Paris (Dir. 1803 – 1809). Soon After it Closed, She Founded a Girls' College and School in Lodi, Northern Italy, Which She Directed Until Her Death.

Marguerite Gérard. Born 28 January, 1761, died 18 May, 1837. French Painter and Printmaker Working in the Rococo Style; More Than 300 Genre Paintings, 80 Portraits, and Several Miniatures Have Been Documented to Her.

Marie-Gabrielle Capet. Born 6 September, 1761, died 1 November, 1818. French Neoclassical Painter, Pupil of the French Painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard in Paris. Excelled as a Portrait Painter; Her Works Include Oil Paintings, Watercolors, and Miniatures.

Anna Rajecka (a.k.a Madame Gault de Saint-Germain). Born c. 1762, died 1832. Polish Portrait Painter and Pastellist, Raised as a Protégée of King Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland; In 1783, She Was Enrolled at His Expense at the Art School for Women at the Louvre in Paris. Chose to Stay in Paris After Marrying Miniaturist Pierre-Marie Gault de Saint-Germain in 1788. Became the First Polish Woman to Have Her Work Represented at the Salon in 1791.

Marie-Guillemine Benoist (born Marie-Guillemine Laville-Leroux), Born December 18, 1768, died October 8, 1826. French Neoclassical, Historical, and Genre Painter, Student of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

Adèle Romany (born Jeanne Marie Mercier, a.k.a. Adèle Romanée, Adèle de Romance). Born 7 December, 1769, died 6 June, 1846. French Painter Known for Miniatures and Portraits, Especially Those of People Involved in Performing Arts.

Marie-Denise Villers (Marie-Denise "Nisa" Lemoine). Born 1774, died 19 August, 1821. French Painter Who Specialized in Portraits. In 1794, She Married an Architecture Student, Michel-Jean-Maximilien Villers. Her Husband Supported Her Art, During a Time When Many Women Were Forced to Give Up Professional Art Work After Marriage.

Constance Mayer (Marie-Françoise Constance Mayer La Martinière). Born 9 March, 1775, died 26 May, 1821. French Painter of Portraits, Allegorical Subjects, Miniatures and Genre Works. She Had "a Brilliant But Bitter Career."

Jane Austen. Born 16 December, 1775, died 18 July, 1817. English Novelist, Author of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), etc, Known For Her Subtle Criticism of the Nobility of the Time.

Marie Ellenrieder. Born 20 March, 1791, died 5 June, 1863. German Painter Known For Her Portraits and Religious Paintings, Considered to be the Most Important German Woman Artist of Her Time.

Louise-Adéone Drölling (Madame Joubert). Born 29 May, 1797, died 20 March, 1834. French Painter and Draftswoman. Both Her Father and Older Brother Were Celebrated Artists in Their Day; She Herself Was Not a Very Prolific Painter.

Mary Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, née Godwin). Born 30 August, 1797, died 1 February 1851. English Novelist, Author of Frankenstein (1818), Which is Considered One of the Earliest Examples of Science Fiction.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Born 6 March, 1806, died 29 June, 1861. Influential Poet, Author of How Do I Love Thee (Sonnet 43, 1845) and Aurora Leigh (1856).

Ada Lovelace (Augusta Ada King, née Byron, Countess of Lovelace). Born 10 December, 1815, died 27 November, 1852. Mathematician, Writer, First to Think of Other Uses for Computing Besides Mathematical Calculations.

Victoria I (Alexandrina Victoria). Born 24 May, 1819, died 22 January, 1901. Queen of England (1837 – 1901), Longest Reign of All Predecessors.

Florence Nightingale. Born May 12, 1820, died August 13, 1910. English Nurse, Pioneer of Modern Nursing, Statistics, and Social Reformation (~1853 – ?).

Rosa Bonheur. Born 16 March, 1822, died 25 May, 1899. French Artist Known Best as a Painter of Animals (Animalière). She Also Made Sculptures in a Realist Style. Was Widely Considered to be the Most Famous Female Painter of the Nineteenth Century. It’s Been Claimed That She Was Openly Lesbian, as She Lived With Her Partner Nathalie Micas For Over 40 Years Until Micas's Death.

Barbara Bodichon. Born 8 April, 1827, died 11 June, 1891. English Educationalist, Artist, and a Leading Mid-19th-Century Feminist and Women's Rights Activist. She Published Her Influential Brief Summary of the Laws of England concerning Women in 1854 and the English Woman's Journal in 1858, and Co-Founded Girton College, Cambridge (1869).

Emily Dickinson (Emily Elizabeth Dickinson). Born December 10, 1830, died May 15, 1886. American Poet, Little-Known During Her Lifetime, Most Works Published Posthumously and Heavily Edited, Later Regarded as One of the Most Important Figures In American Poetry.

Louisa May Alcott. Born November 29, 1832, died March 6, 1888. American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Poet, Author of Little Women (1868), Abolitionist, Feminist, Active in Temperance and Women’s Suffrage Movements.

Elizabeth Jane Gardner (Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau (married name)). Born October 4, 1837, died January 28, 1922. American Academic and Salon Painter, Born in Exeter, New Hampshire. She Was the First American Woman to Exhibit and Win a Gold Medal at the Paris Salon. Her Works Were Accepted to the Salon More Than Any Other Woman Painter in History, and More Than All But a Few of the Men.

Marie Bracquemond (Marie Anne Caroline Quivoron). Born 1 December, 1840, died 17 January, 1916. French Impressionist Artist, One of Four Notable Women in the Impressionist Movement, Along With Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, and Eva Gonzalès. Studied Drawing as a Child and Began Showing Her Work at the Paris Salon When She Was Still an Adolescent. Never Underwent Formal Art Training, But Received Limited Instruction From Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Advice From Paul Gauguin, Which Contributed to Her Stylistic Approach.

Berthe Morisot (Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot). Born January 14, 1841, died March 2, 1895. French Painter and a Member of the Circle of Painters in Paris Who Became Known as the Impressionists. Described by Art Critic Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as One of "Les Trois Grandes Dames" (The Three Great Ladies) of Impressionism Alongside Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.

Emma Sandys (born Mary Ann Emma Sands). Born 25 September, 1841, died 21 November, 1877. British Pre-Raphaelite Painter. Her Works Were Mainly Portraits in Both Oil and Chalk of Children and of Young Women, Often in Period Clothing, Against Backgrounds of Brightly Coloured Flowers.

Maria Zambaco (Marie Terpsithea Cassavetti (Greek: Μαρία Τερψιθέα Κασσαβέτη)). Born 29 April, 1843, died 14 July, 1914. British Sculptor of Greek Descent, Was Also an Artist's Model, Favored by the Pre-Raphaelites.

Kitty Kielland (Kitty Lange Kielland). Born 8 October, 1843, died 1 October, 1914. Norwegian Landscape Painter.

Marie Stillman (Marie Spartali (Greek: Μαρία Σπαρτάλη)). Born 10 March, 1844, died 6 March, 1927. British Member of the Second Generation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Of the Pre-Raphaelites, She Had One of the Longest-Running Careers, Spanning Sixty Years and Producing Over One Hundred and Fifty Works. Though Her Work With the Brotherhood Began as a Favorite Model, She Soon Trained and Became a Respected Painter.

Mary Cassatt (Mary Stevenson Cassatt). Born May 22, 1844, died June 14, 1926. American Painter and Printmaker, Born in Pennsylvania and Lived Much of her Adult Life in France, Where She Befriended Edgar Degas and Exhibited With the Impressionists. Often Created Images of the Social and Private Lives of Women, With Particular Emphasis on the Intimate Bonds Between Mothers and Children. Described by Gustave Geffroy as One of "Les Trois Grandes Dames" (The Three Great Ladies) of Impressionism Alongside Marie Bracquemond and Berthe Morisot.

Elizabeth Thompson (Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, later known as Lady Butler). Born 3 November, 1846, died 2 October, 1933. British Painter Who Specialized in Painting Scenes From British Military Campaigns and Battles, Including the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars.

Lilla Cabot Perry (born Lydia Cabot). Born January 13, 1848, died February 28, 1933. American Artist Who Worked in the American Impressionist Style, Rendering Portraits and Landscapes in the Freeform Manner of Her Mentor, Claude Monet. She Was an Early Advocate of the French Impressionist Style and Contributed to its Reception in the United States. Her Early Work Was Shaped by Her Exposure to the Boston School of Artists and Her Travels in Europe and Japan.

Anna Boch (Anna-Rosalie Boch). Born 10 February, 1848, died 25 February, 1936. Belgian Painter, Art Collector, and the Only Female Member of the Artistic Group, Les XX. Part of the Neo-Impressionist Movement.

Anna Bilińska (a.k.a. Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz). Born 8 December, 1854, died 8 April, 1893. Polish Painter, Known For Her Portraits. A Representative of Realism, She Spent Most of Her Life in Paris, and is Considered the "First Internationally Known Polish Woman Artist."

Cecilia Beaux (Eliza Cecilia Beaux). Born May 1, 1855, died September 17, 1942. American Artist and the First Woman to Teach Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Known For Her Elegant and Sensitive Portraits of Friends, Relatives, and Gilded Age Patrons, She Painted Many Famous Subjects Including First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau.

Evelyn De Morgan (Mary Evelyn Pickering). Born 30 August, 1855, died 2 May, 1919. English Painter Associated Early in Her Career With the Later Phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, and Working in a Range of Styles Including Aestheticism and Symbolism. Her Paintings Rely on a Range of Metaphors to Express Spiritualist and Feminist Content; Her Later Works Also Dealt With Themes of War From a Pacifist Perspective.

Lucy Bacon (Lucy Angeline Bacon). Born July 30, 1857, died October 17, 1932. Californian Artist Known for Her California Impressionist Oil Paintings of Florals, Landscapes and Still Lifes. Studied in Paris Under the Impressionist Camille Pissarro; The Only Known Californian Artist to Have Studied Under Any of the Great French Impressionists.

Laura Muntz Lyall (Laura Adeline Muntz). Born June 18, 1860, died December 9, 1930. Canadian Impressionist Painter and Art Teacher, Known for Her Sympathetic Portrayal of Women and Children.

Olga Boznańska. Born 15 April, 1865, died 26 October, 1940. Polish Painter and Art Teacher of the Turn of the 20th Century. She Was a Notable Painter in Poland and Europe, and Was Stylistically Associated With French Impressionism, Though She Rejected This Label.

Suzanne Valadon (Marie-Clémentine Valadon). Born 23 September, 1865, died 7 April, 1938. French Painter Who, in 1894, Became the First Woman Painter Admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Shocked the Artistic World by Painting Male Nudes as well as Less Idealized Images of Women (in Comparison to Those of Her Male Counterparts).

Mademoiselle Abomah (Ella Williams). Born October, 1865, death date unknown (after 1920s). African-American Performer, Giantess Who Grew to Eight Feet Tall.

Anna Connelly. Born September 23, 1868, died ~1969. Inventor of the First Fire Escape (1887), One of the First Women to Patent an Invention Without Help From a Man.

Emma Goldman. Born June 27, 1869, died May 14, 1940. Anarchist Revolutionary, Political Activist, Writer, Played a Pivotal Role in Development of Anarchist Philosophy in North America and Europe In the First Half of the 20th Century.

Ella Ewing, “The Missouri Giantess” (Ella Katherine Ewing). Born March 9, 1872, died January 10, 1913. Giantess, Performer, Considered the World’s Tallest Woman of Her Era.

Helen Keller (Helen Adams Keller). Born June 27, 1880, died June 1, 1968. Blind/Deaf, Disability Rights/etc. Activist (1909 – ?), Author (1903 – ?).

Agatha Christie (Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller)). Born 15 September, 1890, died 12 January, 1976. English Writer, Known For Her 66 Detective Novels and 14 Short Story Collections. Dubbed “The Queen of Crime”.

Amelia Earhart (Amelia Mary Earhart). Born July 24, 1897, died January 5, 1939 (in absentia). First Solo Female Pilot (1932), Women's Rights Activist, Lost at Sea (1937).

Ebony and Ivory (Margaret Patrick and Ruth Eisenburg). Born 1902 (Eisenburg)/1913 (Patrick), died 1996 (Eisenburg)/1994 (Patrick). Elderly Interracial Piano Duo (1983 – 1988), Disabled on Opposite Sides.

Virginia Hall (Virginia Hall Goillot, Codenamed Marie and Diane, Known as “Artemis” and ”The Limping Lady” by the Germans). Born April 6, 1906, died July 8, 1982. WWII-Era Intelligence Agent (1940 – 1945), Considered “The Most Dangerous of All Allied Spies” by the Gestapo, Later Joined the CIA (1947 – 1966), Had Prosthetic Leg.

Li Zhen (李贞) (Li Danmeizi (旦妹子)). Born February, 1908, died March 11, 1990. Revolutionary (1927 – ?), First Female General of the People’s Liberation Army (1955 – ?).

Mother Teresa (Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu)). Born 26 August, 1910, died 5 September, 1997. Albanian-Indian Catholic Nun, Founder of the Missionaries of Charity.

Rosa Parks (Rosa Louise McCauley Parks). Born February 4, 1913, died October 24, 2005. Civil Rights Activist (1943 – ?), Played a Pivotal Role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955), Became Symbol of Resistance to Racial Segregation.

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm). Born June 10, 1922, died June 22, 1969. Award-Winning Singer/Actress (1924 – 1969), Starred in The Wizard of Oz (1939), A Star Is Born (1954), etc.

Stephanie Kwolek (Stephanie Louise Kwolek). Born July 31, 1923, died June 18, 2014. Award-Winning Chemist, Inventor of Kevlar (1965).

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson). Born June 1, 1926, died August 4, 1962. Award-Winning Actress (1945 – 1961), Pop/Sex Icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Starred in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Some Like It Hot (1959), etc.

Ursula K. Le Guin (Ursula Kroeber Le Guin). Born October 21, 1929, died January 22, 2018. American Novelist, Best Known For Her Works of Speculative Fiction, Author of the Earthsea Series (1964 – 2018), The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Dispossessed (1974), etc.

Aretha Franklin (Aretha Louise Franklin). Born March 25, 1942, died August 16, 2018. Award-Winning Gospel/Rock/RnB Singer, Songwriter, Pianist, Civil Rights Activist, Record Producer (1954 – 2017).

Liza Minnelli (Liza May Minelli). Born March 12, 1946, Still Living. Award-Winning Actress, Singer, Dancer, and Choreographer (1961 – present), Daughter of Judy Garland.

Afeni Shakur (Afeni Shakur Davis, Born Alice Faye Williams). Born January 10, 1947, died May 2, 2016. American Political Activist, Member of the Black Panther Party (1968 – 1971), Mother of Tupac Shakur.

Assata Shakur (Assata Olugbala Shakur (Born JoAnne Deborah Byron), A.k.a. Joanne Chesimard). Born July 16, 1947, Still Living. American Political Activist, Convicted of Murder, Former Member of the Black Liberation Army, One of the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists", Friend of Afeni Shakur & Mutulu Shakur, Often Described as Their Son Tupac Shakur's "Godmother" or "Step-Aunt", Currently a Fugitive, in Asylum in Cuba.

(P.S. if I got anything wrong, feel free to correct me.)

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lalalaugenbrot · 1 month ago

Text

Attempt at a Comprehensive List of

Alexander von Humboldtʼs Potential Boyfriends

When if not now that Alex came 2nd in the @napoleonic-sexyman-tournament (what a time to be alive) would be the perfect time to finally thoroughly pick his private life apart. Strangely it has always been a mystery even to me (and of course overall it will remain a mystery until the end of times), but I still thought it was about time to at least get some order in the few things that we do know – mainly for myself but also, I dare say, for the public. You (the public!) will find a short text for every friend under the cut ￬.

disclaimers:

a) I tried to pick the most appropriate picture of everyone but please imagine especially the first ones a lot younger than they are in the pictures

b) it’s a potential boyfriends list, meaning: I’m not saying Alex definitely had romantic and/or sexual relationships with any let alone all of these men, it’s just a list of men where it seems at least possible; but ultimately, of course, we do not know and will never know

c) Alex lived for almost 90 years, and even though his textual remains can seem infinite, there is a lot we don’t know about him, especially his private life, not least because he habitually destroyed almost all of his private letters (which is also why for all of his correspondences we only know the letters he wrote but almost never the ones he received) − so I don’t think there’s any way this list is exhaustive (let me know if you think anyone is missing?)

d) Bonpland is not in this because Alex went out of his way to specifically state that his relationship with Bonpland was purely scientific

e) the point of this post isn’t to determine his sexuality, but since it has already come up, just a couple of words on him being on the asexual spectrum: that is perfectly possible and maybe not even unlikely, he said things about himself that could be interpreted as such (not wanting to marry, not having sensual needs); but I think it’s good to keep two things in mind about that: 1. not wanting to get married was a big thing in 1800, something you had to explain yourself for and not wanting to get married as a man also obviously meant not wanting a wife, it was by no means a question on whether or not wanting a significant other and/or sex; 2. the narrative of his sex-less life at least partly derives from the (mainly 19th/20th century) wish for him not to have been (actively) homosexual

f) I hate to be that person, but it has to be said: language and culture back then were much more emotional and expressive than we are used to today, so not everything that sounds super intimate or even romantic to us (language-wise) has to actually have been meant that way; of course this doesn’t rule out anything either but it’s a thing to keep in mind

g) if anyone is interested in sources or further reading on anything particular, do not hesitate to hit me up! But i’m not adding any of that to this post because 1. it’s already 2 km long and 2. this is tumblr dot com

Wilhelm Gabriel Wegener (1767-1837)

18-year-old Alex met Wilhelm in 1787 during the one semester he studied at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). Wilhelm was a (protestant) theology student and on 13 February 1788 they made a “holy” oath to “eternal brotherly love”. They wrote each other very cheesy letters, very much in the Empfindsamkeit fashion of the time, proclaiming their eternal and ever-growing love for each other. There was no one on earth, Alex wrote to him once (and in Italian no less), whom he loved as ardently as him (“Non vi è uomo sopra la terra ch'io amì così ardammente che lei…”). He also told him that, ever since he had met him, it seemed to him that God had created people only in pairs, because no one else could ever compare to what he meant to him. In his letters Alex also repeatedly refers to the many hours spent together (“chatting”) in a certain armchair in Frankfurt and proclaims that he has never been happier than in that very chair.

They kept contact for a couple of years after their time in Frankfurt, but at some point their friendship faded out.

Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765-1812)

Willdenow (a published botanist) and Alex met in 1788 in Berlin, when Alex had one day decided to just call at his house to ask him to teach him botany. Willdenow agreed and they became friends quickly, spent a lot of time together, and when Alex wandered through Berlin on his own to collect plants, he would afterwards bring them to Willdenow who would then identify them for him.

We do not know a lot about their friendship during that time (and maybe I only included him in this because I needed 9 tiles) but at least one phrase in Alex’s autobiography fragment calls our attention, not least because it’s highlighted by what I like to call a Streisand strike-through: “I became enthusiastically fond of him” or “I grew to love him enthusiastically” (“Ich gewann ihn enthusiatisch lieb”, written in 1801 and crossed out roughly 50 years later).

They stayed in contact even after Alex had left Berlin a couple of months later: in 1795 Alex became godfather of Willdenow’s son and in 1810 he convinced him to come to Paris to work on his botanical collections from the South America trip. Sadly, Willdenow fell ill in 1811 and died in 1812 in Berlin.

Karl Freiesleben (1774-1846)

Alex met Karl in 1791 in Freiberg, where both studied geology and mining at the renowned Bergakademie. Karl was the son of a local mining family and Alex learnt a lot from him about his new profession. They both were nerdy about stones and minerals in ways you couldn’t even begin to imagine. They gifted each other minerals, went down into the mines together, and in August 1791 they made a 200 km long geological expedition through the mountains of Bohemia on foot. But aside from pages-long enthusiastic rants about geology, Alex’s letters to Karl are also full of sentimental love declarations. He called him Herzens-Freisesleben, Herzens-Karl or Herzensjunge (roughly “my heart’s Freiesleben/Karl/boy”) and once finished a letter with: “going to bed now and I’ll be happy when I dream of you�� — a passage Karl thoroughly struck through later, probably so no one else could read it, but someone deciphered almost all the struck through passages anyway (not all heroes wear capes!).

Karl and Alex stayed (sporadic and long-distance) friends for the rest of Karl’s life.

Reinhard von Haeften (1772-1803)

The above picture shows a snippet from one of Alex’s travel journals where he noted Reinhard’s birthday (“14 Mai R.”) because sadly we don’t have a picture of Reinhard. But let’s hear how Alex described him:

“This Reinhard v. Haeften has been my only and hourly company for a year now. I live with him, he visits me in the mountains. [...] I have already ridden 8 miles [60 km] just to see him for a couple of hours. He is very tall, taller than most men and he’s only 22 years old but looks more mature than me [at 25]. He has a very remarkable face and everyone finds him to be one of the most beautiful men, and I too think he’s beautiful, but most importantly I have never seen purity of the soul, kindness and courtesy being reflected in anyone’s features as much as in his.”

Alex and Reinhard met in 1793 in Bayreuth (where Alex now worked as a mining official) and they quickly moved in together. However, shortly before meeting Alex, Reinhard had also managed to make a baby with a married woman 4 years older than him. Alex was friendly with Christiane, the child’s mother and helped to keep the birth a secret. The boy (named Friedrich Gustav Alexander, Alex’s godson and surely named after him) had to spend the first years away from his parents. In the meantime, Reinhard continued to live with Alex, accompanied him on business trips and mineralogical expeditions and in 1795 they went on a two-month trip through Northern Italy and Switzerland. It was only with and through him, Alex wrote to Reinhard once, that he could live, only close to him that he could be fully happy.

Later, after Reinhard and Christiane had finally gotten married (and reunited with their son), Alex wrote him a very long letter, proposing for the three of them to (continue to?) live together with Reinhard as head of the family and to settle for quiet life in Switzerland, Italy, or some small town in the west of Germany. That plan never worked out, but “Rein” (as Alex called him), Christiane, their by now two children and Alex lived and travelled together for another two years while Alex was already preparing for his big journey.

After he had sailed for the Americas in 1799, he tried his best to stay in contact with them. In his letters, he called them his “Herzensmenschen” (again, roughly: “his heart’s humans”), wrote them that he was dreaming about them day and night and how much he wished that his – their – Rein could be with him to see all the marvels, too. But cross-atlantic communication was bad during that time and in both directions most letters never arrived.

Sadly, Reinhard unexpectedly died in 1803 while Alex was still in America, meaning they never got to meet again. Alex stayed in contact with Christiane and the children − the only survivors of the shipwreck, as he put it − and wrote Christiane how he still remembered their time together, along with all the hopes and dreams that they had had and that despite the “all-robbing fate”, there was something unalterable in the depth of their love, that could only die with them. When Christiane remarried and had another son in 1806, she named him Gustave Louis Reinhard Alexandre. Alex continued to financially support Christiane and the children and in 1813, Reinhard’s son Fritz (Alex’s godson) visited Alex in Paris for three months.

Carlos Montúfar (1780-1816)

Alex met Carlos in 1802 in Quito and despite him having no scientific qualifications whatsoever, Alex chose Carlos to accompany him on his further journey. This decision offended botanist, geographer and astronomer Francisco José de Caldas (who himself had hoped to join the expedition) so much that he, in a letter to botanist José Celestino Mutis, famously called Carlos “[señor Barón de Humboldt’s] Adonis”, probably insinuating that Alex had picked Carlos purely for his looks, or even more.

Together with the rest of the party, Alex and his supposed “Adonis” travelled what today is Ecuador (where they climbed the Chimborazo), Peru, Mexico, Cuba and the USA. At least once during that journey (but perhaps regularly?) they shared a bed (as in some kind of temporary/mobile accomodation) which we know because Alex explicitly says so in his travel journal when he describes a night in which Carlos had very bad stomach cramps which Alex tried to ease by heating handkerchiefs over the fire for him in the middle of the night.

Carlos accompanied Alex back to Europe in 1804 and stayed with him in Paris for a couple of months (where they most likely both attended Napoleon’s coronation) until he ultimately left to go to Madrid. But since Carlos had trouble getting money from South America, he still had to rely on Alex’s support. However, over time his contact to Alex seems to have broken off, because in a letter from 1806, Carlos complained about Alex not answering him anymore (“¡Qué largo silencio!”) and then told him, quite dramatically, that he was running out of money, and that he, Alex, was his only friend, his only hope, and the only person he knew in Europe who could tell him what to do. Whether all of Alex’s letters had gotten lost in the mail and whether Alex ended up helping him out or not, I think we don’t know. (But knowing him as I do and since he after all kept that letter, I’m sure that he did.)

Later, Carlos went back to South America, where he (alongside Símon Bolívar) fought to liberate the continent from the Spanish Crown − a fight he unfortunately didn’t survive: he was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1816.

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850)

Alex and Gay (that’s what Alex called him, no pun intended) first met in 1804 in Paris, just after Alex’s return from America. Before, Gay had done two things: 1. contributed to a harsh critique on one of Alex’s papers, 2. ascended 7016 m in a hot-air balloon to investigate the air up there − a world record at the time and more than 1000 m higher than Alex had been on the Chimborazo, which had then also been a world record (in recorded European history).

Evidently, these were the best conditions for them to totally hit it off: they almost immediately started to work on the evaluation of Gay’s balloon ascent and often spent entire days working together in Gay’s room, from 9 am until after midnight. In a letter to his father, Gay wrote that Alex was the man with the best heart he had ever known, that their tastes and sentiments were absolutely the same − and that their hearts felt a great need to see each other very often.

After the publication of their paper (in which they, without fully realising it, also first identified the chemical composition of water: H2O), they (and another friend) went on a six-month field trip through Switzerland and Italy − where they were lucky enough to witness both an earthquake and a resulting Vesuvius eruption. They ended their journey in Berlin where Gay stayed at Alex’s for a couple of months and even started to learn German until he unexpectedly had to leave for Paris. His absence, Alex wrote after Gay had left, pained him a lot.

When Alex finally returned to Paris as well, they shared a single room at the École Polytechnique and even after Gay became a father in 1808 and married in 1809, Alex continued to (at least occasionaly) live with his family for many years. Gay’s first son (born in 1810) was named Jules Alexandre and while I have no proof that he was named after Alex, I think it’s safe to assume. Alex seems to have also been very intimately integrated into the family life, because he once wrote to Willdenow (with a humorous undertone of course): “We are always pregnant and just had a girl again. Right now we’re not feeling anything though.” Alex was also there to help when an explosion in a laboratory accident injured Gay’s eyes so badly that Alex and another friend had to take him home in a blindfold.

No letters between the two have survived (that we know of), but we do know that in the years after they first met, Alex considered Gay his best friend and “one of the kindest beings in the world”, that he named an American plant genus after him (Gaylussacia), and that they used “tu” with each other (which was very uncommon in France at the time except for childhood friends and family). They stayed friends for the rest of their lives and formed a kind of trio with Arago (see below).

Karl von Steuben (1788-1856)

We don’t know when exactly they first met but according to Alex they started to see each other daily in 1812 at the studio of painter François Gérard, where Alex had then started to take drawing lessons. Steuben, a young aspiring artist, lived and worked at Gérard’s studio. According to Alex, they “drew and painted” together “daily” for at least one or two years. Withdrawn from all other society, he wrote, this was now his “only joy” (interestingly almost the exact same wording he had used to describe his relationship with Reinhard 20 years earlier). However, it had perhaps been one of Alex’s exaggerations because he at least seems to have attended the famous salons Gérard held at his studio, where all the cool Paris people came to hang out. Alex reportedly talked incessantly, stayed late into the night (the main thing usually didn’t get going until midnight) and was found there again, freshly dressed and shaved, already at 7 in the morning.

In the meantime, Alex had started to torment basically everyone around him to commission Steuben to paint them, their sons, daughters, fiancés etc. to help Steuben support his poor mother in St. Petersburg. In 1814, even Alex’s brother noted that Alex had suddenly become strangely interested in art. In the same year, Alex became godfather to Steuben’s newborn son Alexander.

However, the biggest commission Alex got Steuben was a life-sized full-body painting of himself, which he intended to gift to his sister-in-law. It took 7 years to finish and in the end Alex’s brother had to pay for transport and framing because Alex had run out of money. Neither his brother nor his sister-in-law were overly enthusiastic about the likeness of the painting or Steuben’s talent in general but they still put it up in their home because after all, as his brother put it, they loved Alex and always liked a picture of him around.

Alex and Steuben stayed in at least loose contact for many years and Alex occasionally even still tried to get him commissions. Steuben’s painting of Alex hung in the Humboldt residence in Tegel for over a century before it was ultimately destroyed in WWII. Apparently though, another Alex portrait by Steuben from 1815 still exists in a private collection somewhere.

François Arago (1786-1853)

Arago, a young astronomer, was on a scientific expedition through Spain when he got entangled in the Peninsular War: mistaken for a French spy, he got arrested and incarcerated, managed to flee, was captured again, transferred, released, drifted off at sea to Algeria, all the while managing to hold on to his most valuable possession: his scientific records, which he kept hidden under his shirt at all times. When Alex heard about this (the two had never met before), he was so impressed by his courage and determination that he sent a letter to congratulate him — and to offer him his friendship. And in fact, one of the first things Arago did when he finally returned to Paris in 1809 was to go and meet Alex. It was the beginning of a 44-year-long friendship. They saw each other almost daily, worked together at the observatory, planned an expedition to Tibet (which never happened), and actually travelled at least to London in 1817 to visit Alex’s brother, who commented to his wife: “Alexander has arrived yesterday. But he isn't staying with me, even though his room had already been prepared. You know his passion to always be with one person who is his favourite at that time. Now he has the astronomer Arago who he doesn't want to part with (...) So they're staying at a nearby inn.” Just as with Gay, Alex and Arago used “tu” with each other and after Arago had gotten married in 1811, Alex was close with his wife and children as well as with his siblings, nieces and nephews — in some letters he even considered himself part of the Arago family.

When Alex was forced to move back to Berlin in 1827 to work for the king, he wrote Arago desperate letters on how much their separation pained him, how much he missed him every hour of every day. In the following 26 years, Alex’s letters to him were full of yearning pleas for just a couple of lines of his hand, which, as he wrote, always made his heart flutter. However, Arago often didn’t respond for months, but when he did, he at least knew to reassure Alex, writing things like: “Outside my family, you are, without any comparison, the person I love most tenderly in this world.” Alex kept a portrait and a large Arago bust in his study in Berlin, and until his late seventies, he travelled to Paris regularly (that is, every few years), first and foremost to see Arago. (Actual quote from 78-year-old Alex in a letter to his niece: “Every morning at half past eight without interruption, I’ve been at Arago’s in the observatory, today for the 62nd time.”) According to Arago, he and Alex have only been angry with each other one single time in all those decades and even that went over in an instant.

They saw each other for the last time in January 1848, on the last night of Alex’s last stay in Paris. When Arago fell ill five years later, his family informed Alex of his worsening condition — but Alex couldn’t travel to Paris to see him one last time. Even over a year after Arago’s death, Alex wrote that the memory of those last moments in January 1848 vividly came back to him during the night at least once a week. He outlived his friend by 6 years.

#alexander von humboldt #alejandro #i'm so sorry alex ://#but this is the part about the mortifying ordeal of being known #(and we're all here to love you for it!!!)#all of this happened because i had a strange and unsatisfying conversation on this that got interrupted and never finished #and i couldn't stop rotating all i wanted to say in my head for literal weeks #and this (an in-depth and overly well researched overview of his 'intimate special friends') isn't at all what i would have wanted to say #but i think it still helped me to finally let go of that conversation #and a bonus: they're all my sons-in-law now🥺#lastly there's a lot i would have to add to this #(for instance did Friedrich Gustav Alexander von Haeften; Jules Alexandre Gay-Lussac;#Alexander von Steuben and Gustave Louis Reinhard Alexandre de Vernejoul ever meet I need to know????)#(or that the portrait i chose for arago was painted by steuben.... 🌝 (the one alex had in berlin was by scheffer though))#(or: it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters it matters)#but actually i'm just going to say this one single thing:#gay-lussacs balloon ascent was a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e I N S A N I T Y #imagine being in a hot air ballon #ON YOUR OWN #SEVEN KILOMETRES from the ground #(that's a plane 25 (TWENTYFIVE!) mins before landing)#in 1804 #(e i g h t e e n h u n d r e d f o u r)#and not to be a pioneer in aviation #but to MEASURE AIR #????????#holy fucking shit

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