Aletta H. (Aletta Henriette) Jacobs

Born in 1854 in Sappemeer, Aletta Henriette Jacobs grew up determined to study medicine at a time when universities largely excluded women. With support from her father, she gained access to higher education and went on to become the first woman in the Netherlands to complete a university degree and qualify as a physician.

Jacobs worked as a doctor in Amsterdam, where she became known not only for treating patients but also for her concern for the lives of working women. She wrote and spoke about women's health, helped expand access to contraception, and believed that education and bodily autonomy were essential to real independence.

Her activism reached far beyond medicine. Jacobs became a leading figure in the Dutch women's suffrage movement and remained deeply involved until women won the vote in the Netherlands in 1919. Remembered today as both a physician and a reformer, she stands out as someone who turned professional success into public action.