# Florence Schechter

Florence Schechter is the founder of the Vagina Museum and was director from 2017 to 2024. She is also a consultant, science communicator, and public speaker. Her debut book, V: An Empowering Celebration of the Vulva and Vagina, was published by Penguin Random House in March 2023.

## Early life and education

Schechter's father is Klezmer musician Grigori Schechter. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2014 with a BSc in Biochemistry.
Prior to the Vagina Museum, she interned at the BBC show QI.

## Vagina Museum

In 2017, Schechter founded the Vagina Museum after discovering that there was a penis museum in Iceland, but no vagina equivalent anywhere in the world. She was the Vagina Museum's Director from 2017 to 2024. The first ever fundraising event was held at Unit 5 Gallery, London in May 2017. The first pop up exhibition was held in August 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The following year, it toured an exhibition around the UK called Is Your Vagina Normal?.
The Vagina Museum opened its first semi-permanent location in Camden Market with the inaugural exhibition Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Fight Them, opening on 16 November 2019. To open the museum, a fundraising campaign was held which raised almost £50,000. In 2021, the Vagina Museum closed its doors in Camden Market after the landlords refused to renew the lease in their unit. The Vagina Museum reopened in its second location in March 2022 in ENTER, a venue located in Bethnal Green. The museum then opened in its long-term location in two railway arches in Bethnal Green after a crowdfunding campaign that raised over £85,000.
The museum is dedicated to being trans-inclusive.
Schechter has lectured around the world about her work with the Vagina Museum, including the Royal Institution, British Science Festival, Conway Hall, Freud Museum, and National Student Pride.

## Writing

On 11 October 2022, it was announced that Penguin would be publishing Schechter's debut book V: An Empowering Celebration of the Vulva and Vagina. The book was published in March 2023 and is illustrated by Nadia Akingbule. The book is suitable for ages 14+. As part of the marketing campaign, she went on tour to Cheltenham Science Festival, Surgeons' Hall Museum, Burgh House, and Conway Hall.
Schechter is currently signed with United Agents.
She has also written articles for a number of publications including DIVA magazine, Metro, and The Huffington Post.
In 2024, she published a guide for the museums sector called "So You Want to Build a Museum".

## Public speaking

Schechter has been working in the science communication sector since 2016, mostly based around biology. She has written and presented a number of podcasts for Chemistry World, podcast of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and for the BBC's Boring Talks.
In 2019, Schechter performed her debut show "Queer by Nature" at Vaults Festival, all about same sex sexual behaviour in animals.
She has spoken at and contributed to a number of different conferences and festivals including Green Man Festival, Imperial College London, and Bradford Literature Festival. She gave the keynote speech at SCI:COM 2022 at Dublin's Aviva Stadium and British Science Festival 2024.
Schechter has appeared in a number of podcasts including The Guilty Feminist, Doing It with Hannah Witton, Drunk Women Solving Crime, and Arts & Culture.
She was a contributor to the Peacock documentary Queer Planet, which premiered in 2024.

## Honours and awards

Schechter came highly commended in the Women of the Future Awards in 2017.
In 2019, she won Pioneer of the Year in the Sexual Freedom Awards.
In 2020, she was nominated for the Rising Star of the Year Award with DIVA magazine.
In 2023, she came highly commended in the Young Entrepreneur Category at the DIVA awards.

## Personal life

Schechter identifies as bisexual.