You can find a lot of stories about people who became pioneers in various spheres in the history of any country. Very often, such personalities were simply not accepted in society, sometimes they were even considered crazy. Certain changes in social life weren’t always treated respectfully. Society has a rather difficult time accepting any new rules or cancelling stereotypes that have been established for a long time. Despite all this, there were people who have always fought traditional concepts. One of them was Mary Montagu from London. That interesting and extraordinary woman played an important role in the development of feminism at that time. Moreover, her life was filled with travel and writing. Learn more at londonka.
Facts from her biography
Mary Pierrepont was born into a fairly wealthy family in London on May 15, 1689. She was a very beautiful girl who dreamed of writing since childhood. Apparently, she was lucky to be born into such a family because otherwise, her interests would hardly have come true. Walking through long patches of field, the little dreamer tried to catch the sun, which was running away with every step she took. Then she realised that it was simply impossible to catch this fireball. Since childhood, the girl was interested in places far beyond the horizon. Unfortunately, at a fairly early age, she had to witness the death of her mother. She was the main person in the girl’s life, who always loved her and shared the child’s admiration. It was the mother who would support Mary in her further ideas and intentions. After that tragic event, the girl and her siblings were raised by their grandmother.
Unusual hobbies and character traits
After the death of her grandmother, Mary lived with her father. Although he was a wealthy man, he didn’t worry about the girl’s education too much. Mary was educated in the basics by a governess, but all she could give her were stereotypical concepts that were established in England at the time. So, the only girl’s pleasure was the library, which was located in one of the family’s estates. The future writer spent most of her free time here. She studied Latin on her own and also read many different books. Around the age of fifteen, the girl had already written several of her own literary pieces. These were two small collections of poetry, a novel in prose and verse and a short epistolary novel. At a more mature age, Mary Montagu spoke Latin at the level of most men (at that time, only representatives of the male sex possessed that language). Later, the girl surprised her father with such knowledge.
After all, at that time, a daughter’s marriage was one of the most important concerns for every father. Moreover, Mary’s father belonged to the upper class of society and wanted a worthy candidate for his daughter. The girl had several suitors. One of them was Edward Wortley Montagu. Mary corresponded with him for a long time, and later, he proposed to her. However, the father opposed such a marriage and was leaning towards another candidate. This led to the fact that the lovers ran away and got married secretly in 1712. The man later got a good job and became a member of Parliament in London and Mary Montagu quickly won favour at court thanks to her intelligence. In general, she very often impressed everyone with her knowledge and skills, which were atypical for a woman of that time. Her relationship was built in such a way that both partners respected each other’s wishes and had the necessary freedom. Mary Montagu persuaded her husband to accept the job of Ambassador in Istanbul. Thus, she became one of the few women who went on a trip with her husband. Later, she even wrote an essay about it. The family lived in Istanbul for a while, and later, returning to London, Mary Montagu introduced vaccination against smallpox, an alternative that could not be found for a long time. That’s how incredible the woman was at that time.