Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-08-02
odern Eminent Women" Outsrppng the EIerones Of History

long to the sixteenth century, four to the sew
enteenthS five to the eighteenth and five to the
nineteenth.
"Half Of the twenty most eminent women
we're soveroigns, ruling a regent ths &.
others in their own right. Six became eminent
n liters lure FIVE of these being prose writer's,
and Mrs. Browning the pre-eminent poetess.
Marie Antoinette, the unfortunate queen OF
Louis XVI, and Josephine, who might be called
ootn the fortunate and unfortunate wife OF
Napoleon L., owe their positions to marriage.
Madame de Maintenon is noted Cor her poiiti.
cal influence and Jeanne dare was relglou3
enthusiast.
France and England each produced six OF
The twenty most eminent women VI history.
Austria Scotland, Sweden, Italy. Germany
Russia Egypt and America have each one rep
resentative
"a list of this sort makes possible compar
sons which are not ordinarily evident and
could not otherwise be made. and the known
probable error makes IT possible to determine
within what limits the comparisons are true.
Charlotte Bronte and Charlotte Corday seem
inglv have nothing in common, yet their re.
snective number in order Of merit are I'll ana
90 Marie Brinyilliers, whose mania for poison
ing makes IT, impossible to classify her as any
thing but criminal, just precedes GenevleVe
the patron saint of Paris. Joanna Baltic, the
poet; Mrs Siddons, the actress and Beatrice
Cenci whose beauty and tragic fate have been
preserved for us in the colors OF Guido REM and
In the lines Of Shelley. are numbered 81 ~
and 81 respectively.
One of the most striking truths brought out
in this compilation is the steady increase IN
the number of eminent women recorded IN
history, century by century, since medieval
times The tenth century produced b, the
twelfth 49, the fifteenth, SO; the sixteenth, 10;
the seventeenth, 81: the eighteenth, 2lS, and
the nineteenth, 395. Of course large part OF
this increase is due to the impetus which the
invention of movable types and the printing
press gave to the business of recording his
tory--the same influence which brought about
a general spread of enlightenment among
women as well among men. If Sappho and
a few other eminent women or ancient times
are excepted, eminence by right of personal
achievement is confined to the women who
lived and labored during the last five centuries
But as an offset to this showing for modern
women as Mrs. Castle points out, the con.
current increase in the population OF the
Western civilized world-from 45,0O0,pO0 in
1880 to 1862 ,222.
The distribution of eminent women by
nationality and locality affords interesting COM
PARSONS To quote Mrs. Castle:
England has furnished eight more distin'
guished women than France. Germany ranks
third with ia; America, only two centuries
old, is fourth. Italy produced co. Rome Al,
Austria "a, and Spain % eminent women
Russia claims 20, Sweden 16, Greece 10 and
Scotland IA. Twelve of the eminent women
belong to the Byzantine Empire. IL to Holland
and to ireland. Twenty-seven nations each
produced fewer than ten eminent women.
"Of the rs American women of ability 1t
is interesting to note that 20 were, born in
Massachusetts; 10 in New York; in England.
Maine, New Hamp shire,. Connecticut and Penu-
sylvania each claim a; 3 are natives Of South
Carolina and of Ohio; were born in Illinois.
Ireland Canada the District of Columbia, Mary
land Tennessee, Virginia.. Vermont, Alabama
and California each produced one eminent
woman. In other words, New England has
produced 3S, more than twice as many as
New York; 9 are of foreign birth, and are
southern women. Only one eminent American
woman was born west of the Mississippi River.
Our figures thus accord with those Of Professor