Elizabeth A. (Elizabeth Armstrong) Reed

Born in Winthrop, Maine, in 1842, Elizabeth Armstrong Reed was an American author remembered for her writing on comparative religion and Asian traditions. Sources describe her as an oriental scholar whose books were widely used in universities, and contemporary reference works placed her among notable American women writers of her time.

She married Hiram Vaughn Reed in 1860 and was the mother of novelist Myrtle Reed. Alongside family life, she pursued serious literary and scholarly work, becoming associated with learned circles including the Royal Asiatic Society and the Philosophical Society of Great Britain.

Reed died in 1915. Though not widely known today, her career stands out because she earned unusual recognition for a woman scholar of her era and helped bring subjects such as Hinduism and other world religions to English-language readers.