List of women scientists before the 20th century

This is a historical list, intended to deal with the time period where it is believed that women working in science were rare. For this reason, this list ends with the 20th century.

Antiquity

Aemilia (c. 300 CE–363 CE), Gallo-Roman physician Aglaonike (2nd century BCE), woman astronomer in Ancient Greece Agnodike (4th century BCE), first woman physician to practice legally in Athens Andromache (mid-6th century), Egyptian physician Arete of Cyrene (5th–4th centuries BCE), Greek natural and moral philosopher Artemisia of Caria (c. 300 BCE), botanist Aspasia the Physician (fl. 1st century CE), Greek physician Aurelia Alexandria Zosime, Ancient Roman physicianNathan J. Barnes: Reading 1 Corinthians with Philosophically Educated Women Chun Yuyan (1st century BCE), Chinese obstetrician and gynecologist Cleopatra the Alchemist (c. 3rd century CE), wrote the alchemical book, Chrysopoeia, or "gold-making" Damo (6th century BCE), Greek natural philosopher Diotima of Mantinea (4th century BCE), philosopher and scientist, ancient Greece Echecratia the Philiasian (5th century BCE), Greek/Italian mathematician and natural philosopher Elephantis (1st century BCE), Greek physician Enheduanna (c. 2285–2250 BCE), Sumerian/Akkadian astronomer and poet Fabiola (died 399 CE), Roman physician Fang (first century BCE), Chinese chemist Favilla (2nd century), Roman physician Gargi Vachaknavi (7th century BCE), Indian philosopher Gu Bao (4th century), Chinese physician Hypatia (370–415 CE), mathematician and astronomer, Egypt Laïs (c. 1st/2nd century BCE), midwifePliny the Elder, Natural History 28.81–84. Irby-Massie, 'Women in Ancient Science', in Woman's power, man's game: essays on classical antiquity in honor of Joy K. King, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1993. p.366 Leoparda (4th century CE), gynecologist Macrina (4th century CE), Greek physician and nun Marcella (4th century CE), Roman healer Mary the Jewess (1st or 2nd century CE), alchemist Melissa (3rd century BCE), Greek philosopher Metrodora (c. 200–400 CE), Greek physician and author Minucia Asste, Ancient Roman physician Myia (5th century BCE), Greek philosopher Nicerata (c. 5th century), physician and healer Olympias of Thebes (1st century BCE), Greek midwife Origenia (2nd century CE), Greek healer Pao Ku Ko (3rd century CE), Chinese chemist Paphnutia the Virgin (c. 300), Egyptian alchemist Paula of Rome (347–404 CE), Roman healer Perictione (5th century BCE), Greek philosopher, mother of Plato Panthea, Ancient Greek physician, wife and colleague of Glycon Philinna of Thessaly, Ancient Greek physician Peseshet, Egyptian physician (Fourth Dynasty) Pythias of Assos (4th century BCE), marine zoologist Restituta (1st century), Ancient Roman physician Salpe (1st century BCE), Greek midwife Sotira (1st century BCE), Greek physician

Tapputi-Belatekallim (First mentioned in a clay tablet dating to 2000 BCE), Babylonian perfumer, the first person in history recorded as using a chemical process Terentia Prima, Ancient Roman physician Theano (6th century BCE), philosopher, mathematician and physician Thelka, Iranian Theosebeia, correspondent of the alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis

Yi Jia (2nd century BCE), Chinese physician

Middle Ages

Abella (14th century), Italian physicianL. Whaley: Women and the Practice of Medical Care in Early Modern Europe, 1400–1800 Adelle of the Saracens (12th century), Italian physician Adelmota of Carrara (14th century), Italian physician Rufaida Al-Aslamia (7th century), Muslim nurse Maesta Antonia (1386–1408), Florentine physician Ameline la Miresse (fl. 1313–1325), French physician Jeanne d'Ausshure (d. 1366), French surgeon Brunetta de Siena (fl. 15th century), Italian-Jewish physician Hildegard of Bingen (1099–1179), German natural philosopher Sibyl of Benevento, Napolitan physician specializing in the plague buboes Gentile Budrioli (?–1498), Italian astrologer and herbalist Constanza, Italian surgeon. Denice (fl. 1292), French barber-surgeon Demud (fl. ca. 13th century), German physician Dobrodeia of Kiev (fl. 1122), Byzantine physician Dorotea Bucca (fl. 1390), Italian professor of medicine Constance Calenda (15th century), Italian surgeon specializing in diseases of the eye Virdimura of Catania (fl. 1376), Jewish-Sicilian physician Caterina of Florence (fl. 1400s), Florentine physician Jeanne de Cusey (fl. 1438), French barber-surgeon Antonia Daniello (fl. 1400), Florentine-Jewish physician Clarice di Durisio (15th century), Italian physician Fava of Manosque (fl. 1322), French-Jewish physician Jacobina Félicie (fl. 1322), Italian physician Francesca, muller de Berenguer Satorra (15th century), Catalan physician «Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones: Francesca, muller de Berenguer Satorra » Katherine Briçonnet (–1526) French architectM. E. Aubry-Vitet, "Chenonceau", in Revue des deux mondes, no. 69 (1867), p. 855. Maria Gallicia (fl. 1309), licensed surgeon Bellayne Gallipapa (fl. 1380), Zaragoza, Spanish-Jewish physician Dolcich Gallipapa (fl. 1384), Leyda, Spanish-Jewish physician Na Pla Gallipapa (fl. 1387), Zaragoza, Spanish-Jewish physician Sarah de St Giles (fl. 1326), French-Jewish physician and medical teacher Alessandra Giliani (fl. 1318), Italian anatomist Rebecca de Guarna (fl. 1200), Italian physician Magistra Hersend (fl. 1249–1259), French surgeon Maria Incarnata, Italian surgeon, mentioned in Pope Sixtus IV edict regarding physicians and surgeons. Isabiau la Mergesse (fl. 1292), French-Jewish physician Floreta La-Noga (fl. 1374), Aragonese physician Helvidis (fl. 1176), French physician Keng Hsien-Seng (10th century), Chinese chemist Li Shao Yun (11th century), Chinese chemist Stephanie de Lyon (fl. 1265), French physician Guillemette du Luys (fl. 1479), French royal surgeon Thomasia de Mattio, Italian physician, mentioned in Pope Sixtus IV edict regarding physicians and surgeons. Margherita di Napoli (late 14th century), Napolitan oculist active in Frankfurt-am-Main Mercuriade (14th century), Italian physician and surgeon Gilette de Narbonne (fl. 1300), French physician. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote of her in ‘’The Decameron’’, calling her ‘Donna Medica’; Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot wrote a comic opera about her called Gillette de Narbonne. Isabella da Ocre, Napolitan surgeon Francisca da Romana, Napolitan physician Dame Péronelle (1292–1319), French herbalist Peretta Peronne, also called Perretta Petone (fl. 1411), French surgeon Lauretta Ponte da Saracena Calabria, Napolitan physician Trota of Salerno (fl. 1090), Italian physician Marguerite Saluzzi (fl. 1460), Napolitan licensed herbalist physician Sara de Sancto Aegidio (fl. 1326), French physician Juana Sarrovia (fl. 1384), Barcelona, Spanish physician Shen Yu Hsiu (15th century), Chinese chemist Sun Pu-Eh (12th century), Chinese chemist Raymunda da Taberna, licensed Napolitan surgeon Théophanie (fl. 1291), French barber surgeon Trotta da Toya (f. 1307), Napolitan physician Polisena da Troya (fl. 1335), licensed Napolitan surgeon Margarita da Venosa (fl. 1333), licensed Napolitan surgeon, who studied at the University of Salerno She was considered a noteworthy practitioner and counted Ladislaus, king of Naples, as a patient. Francisca di Vestis (fl. 1308), Napolian physician Zhang Xiaoniang (11th century), Chinese physician

16th century

Maria Andreae (1550–1632), German pharmacist Marie de Brimeu (1550–1605), Flemish botanist Sophia Brahe (1556–1643), Danish astronomer and chemist Plautilla Bricci (1616–1690) Italian architect Isabella Cortese (fl. 1561), Italian alchemist Anna Hebrea (fl. 1508), Italian cosmetologist-chemist Helena Magenbuch (1523–1597), German pharmacist Loredana Marcello (died 1572), Venetian botanist Elizabeth Moulthorne (fl. 1593), English barber-surgeonPicard, Liza. Elizabeth's London (2003), Weidenfeld & Nicolson Tarquinia Molza (1542–1617), Italian natural philosopher Catherine de Parthenay (1554–1631), French mathematician Elinor Sneshell (fl. 1593), English surgeon Agatha Streicher (1520–1581), German physician Caterina Vitale (1566–1619), Maltese pharmacist and chemist

Tan Yunxian (1461–1554), Chinese physician

17th century

Anna Åkerhjelm (1647–1693), Swedish traveler and archaeologist Ann Baynard (1672–1697), British Natural philosopher Aphra Behn (1640–1689), British translator of an astronomical work Martine Bertereau (1600–fl.1642), French mineralogist Agnes Block (1629–1704), Dutch horticulturalist Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Palatine (1618–1680), German natural philosopher Louise Bourgeois Boursier (1563–1636), French obstetrician Titia Brongersma (1650–1700), Frisian archaeologist, poet Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), natural philosopher

Marie Crous (fl. 1640), French mathematician Maria Cunitz (1610–1664), Silesian astronomer Jeanne Dumée (1660–1706), French astronomer

Maria Clara Eimmart (1676–1707), German astronomer Marie Fouquet (1590–1681), French medical writer Eleanor Glanville (1654–1709), English entomologist Elisabeth Hevelius (1647–1693), Polish astronomer

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), naturalist Marie Meurdrac (c. 1610–1680), French chemist and alchemist Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684), Italian mathematician and the first female PhD Marguerite de la Sablière (c. 1640–1693), French natural philosopher Jane Sharp (fl. 1671), British obstetrician Justine Siegemund (1636–1705), German obstetrician Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (1630–1715), English botanist Elizabeth Walker (1623–1690), British pharmacist Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham (1632–1705) British architect John Millar The first woman architect, The Architects' Journal, 11 November 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2012.

18th century

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), Italian mathematician Geneviève Charlotte d'Arconville (1720–1805), French anatomist Madeleine-Françoise Calais (circa 1713– fl. 1740) French dentist Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen (1751–1827), German astronomer Maria Angela Ardinghelli (1728–1825), Italian mathematician and physicist Sarah Sophia Banks (1744–1818), British natural history collector Giuseppa Barbapiccola (c. 1702–1740), natural philosopher, translator Jeanne Baret (1740–1807), French circumnavigator and botanist Laura Bassi (1711–1778), Italian physicist Marie Marguerite Bihéron (1719–1795), French anatomist Celia Grillo Borromeo (1684–1777), Italian natural philosopher Jacoba van den Brande (1735–1794), Dutch founder of first all-female science academy Maria Christina Bruhn (1732–1808), Swedish inventor Margaret Bryan (c. 1760–1815), British natural philosopher Elsa Beata Bunge (1734–1819), Swedish botanist Lydia Byam (fl. 1797–1800), naturalist Madeleine-Françoise Calais (1713 or 1714–fl. 1740) was a French dentist María Andrea Casamayor (1700–1780), Spanish mathematician Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749), French mathematician and physicist Maria Medina Coeli (1764–1846), Italian physician Jane Colden (1724–1766), American biologist (1758–1834), Swiss naturalist Angélique du Coudray (1712–1794), French midwife Maria Dalle Donne (1778–1842), Italian physician Catharina Helena Dörrien (1717 – 1795), German botanist Eva Ekeblad (1724–1786), Swedish agronomist Hannah English Williams (died 1722), collector of natural history in the American British Colonies Dorothea Erxleben (1715–1762), German physician Charlotta Frölich (1698–1770), Swedish agronomist and historian Elizabeth Fulhame (fl. 1794), British chemist Lucia Galeazzi Galvani (1743–1788), Italian physician Sophie Germain (1776–1831), elasticity theory, number theory Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi (1760–1830), Italian botanist Catherine Littlefield Greene (1755–1814), American inventor Salomée Halpir (1718-fl. 1763), Lithuanian oculist Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), German-British astronomer