born April 27, 1759, London, Eng.
died Sept. 10, 1797, London
English writer.
She taught school and worked as a governess and as a translator for a London publisher. Her early Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) foreshadowed her mature work on the place of women in society, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), whose core is a plea for equality in the education of men and women. The Vindication is widely regarded as the founding document of modern feminism . In 1797 she married the philosopher William Godwin ; she died days after the birth of their daughter, Mary (see Mary Shelley ), that same year.
Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin), detail, oil on canvas by John Opie, c. 1797; in the National Portrait ...
National Portrait Gallery, London