ALT-1 Famous Mothers throughout History
Behind every famous and successful man, there stands a mother. Too often mothers are lost in the veils of history, but a few stand out even so.
Marie Skodowska-Curie is often called the mother of radioactivity, and the original unit of radioactivity was named for her (since replaced by the becquerel). Together with her husband, they identified and isolated radium and polonium, which earned them, together with Henri Becquerel, the 1903 Nobel prize in physics. After her husband's death, she took over his professorship and continued his work, becoming the first female professor ever at the Sorbonne: and what was now her work eventually earned her a second Nobel prize in chemistry (1911). At the time, she was the only person ever to have won a Nobel prize twice; she remains the only woman ever to have done so. She ended up donating both (gold) Nobel prizes for the World War I war effort, and additionally helped develop mobile radiography units to help injured soldiers on the battlefield. Uniquely among Nobel winners, her daughter Irne Joliot-Curie also earned a Nobel prize.
Where there is a reigning queen, she is often also a mother. Queen Elizabeth II, who is the reigning monarch over most of the British Commonwealth, is often credited - along with *her* mother, Elizabeth the Queen Mother - with being a firm backbone for the royal family during a century of singular upheaval. In fact, the Queen Mother was often seen as being a mother to her people. Queen Elizabeth II has three sons and one daughter.
An infamous mother of classical history was Medea, wife of Jason, who left her for another woman: Glauce, daughter of Creon. In one of the most brutal revenges of history, she killed Glauce, Creon, and her own children.
Mary Wollstonecraft is widely considered the "mother of feminism", a reputation sealed by her essay on women's rights "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", and later her unpublished novel "Maria: The Wrongs of Women". In her own life history she had become very aware that middle-class women without a reliable husband were constantly threatened with becoming destitute. This led her to focus heavily on woman as individual, identifying and rejecting gender-based oppression, and encouraging education for women. Through her writings additionally runs the theme that women should not be measured by men's standards. She died of childbed fever after the birth of her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who would become the author of "Frankenstein".
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the matriarch of the Kennedy political family, is perhaps most famously known for her devotion to her children. She is also responsible for restoring the White House, so as to imbue it with a true sense of history. All her life a political wife and then a political mother, she managed to transcend the traditionally background role to leave her distinct mark upon a generation of Americans.
These are some of the famous mothers of history: but history does not record all the successful mothers, the ones whose children went on to become successful parents in their turn. There is no fame in this, but it is worth celebrating.
