100 Pioneering Women

100 Pioneering Women presents a selection of images of remarkable women who have defied the expectations of their gender and made extraordinary contributions to British life over the past four centuries. An introduction from the National Portrait Gallerys Senior Curator of Eighteenth Century Collections considers the representation of women in its Collection and the efforts being made to redress historical imbalances through the acquisition of portraits of notable women from the last four centuries.

Extended captions provide context for each sitters life and work and remind us of the impact of women in spheres as diverse as politics, science and medicine, the arts, engineering and law. This book features some of the National Portrait Gallerys most famous sitters Queen Elizabeth I, writer and womens rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, scientist Dorothy Hodgkin and architect and businesswoman Zaha Hadid as well as paintings and photographs of lesserknown women whose influence is equally significant. A recently acquired portrait of anti-FGM campaigner and psychotherapist Leyla Hussein, a photograph of Rose Heilbron, the first woman to female judge to sit at the Old Bailey, and a self-portrait by Angelica Kauffmann, one of the founding members of the Royal Academy, are also included in this highly illustrated publication.