Barbara bodichon

8 April 1827 (Whatlington) - 11 June 1891 (Robertsbridge). One of the leading British women's rights activists of the 19th century, artist and teacher.

Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon's parents were Benjamin Leigh Smith and Anne Longden. Benjamin and Anne's relationship was a scandal, as they were not married. In 1834, Anne Longden died of tuberculosis when Barbara was only seven years old. This left her father Benjamin to raise Barbara and her siblings alone.

Throughout her life, Barbara was already interested in women's rights and founded the group "The Ladies of Langham Place" with other women in 1850. This group met weekly to discuss women's issues in a world of oppression and developed into one of the first organized women's movements.

In 1854, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Brief Summary of the Laws of England Concerning Women.

In 1857, she married the French doctor Eugène Bodichon and spent a lot of time in Algeria.

In 1858, in collaboration with Mary Hays and Bessie Rayner Parker, they published the English Woman's Journal, which became one of the most influential periodicals of the Victorian era. In the journal, the women addressed issues such as equal rights for women and the expansion of employment opportunities outside the home. Through her efforts, Bodichon also ensured that women were allowed to vote in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. [what? this is news to me. Where did women have the right to vote?]

Together with Emily Davies, she developed university education for women and expanded it in 1866.

Thanks to her wealthy and intellectual family, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon herself was able to study art at the Ladies' College in Bedford Square, London, under William Holman Hunt. Her works of art were exhibited at the Royal Academy.

https://victorianweb.org/gender/wojtczak/bodichon.html

Robinson, Solveig C. “‘Amazed at Our Success’: The Langham Place Editors and the Emergence of a Feminist Critical Tradition.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 29, no. 2, 1996, pp. 159–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20082917. Accessed 8 Jan. 2024.

Woman’s Art Journal, vol. 22, no. 2, 2001, pp. 58–58. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1358912. Accessed 7 Jan. 2024.