10. Charlotta Frohlich Pioneered Advances in Agriculture
Charlotta Frohlich was born in Sweden at the end of the seventeenth century. She had a very strict Luthern childhood, which she despised, but she was thoroughly educated in subjects such as history, reading, writing, and religion. This knowledge set her apart from many other women of her age, who were mostly illiterate and certainly not educated in social sciences. She developed a love of agriculture and was the owner of an estate, where she made pig iron with a blast furnace. Her inventions in agriculture led to her being the first female scientist published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Particularly unusual for a woman of her time (and still seen as unusual for women of our time, as well) was her penchant for debating politics. A woman’s place was believed to be at home, where her greatest duty was seen as that of raising children and caring for her husband. However, Charlotta ventured out into the public sphere and engaged in debates on politics, economic theories, and state policies. Perhaps the controversial nature of a woman participating in such discussion led her to write mainly under pen names. In addition to her writings on political science, economic science, and agriculture, she wrote poetry.