Elizabeth Robins

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1862, Elizabeth Robins built an unusual career on both sides of the Atlantic. She became well known as an actress and was especially associated with Henrik Ibsen's plays, helping introduce his work to wider British audiences.

Robins was also a prolific writer: a novelist, playwright, and nonfiction author who sometimes wrote under the name C. E. Raimond. After leaving the stage, she became deeply involved in the women's suffrage movement in Britain, and her best-known political play, Votes for Women!, linked her literary work directly to her activism.

She spent much of her life in England and died in 1952. What makes her memorable is the range of her achievement: she was not only a successful performer and author, but also a public voice for social change.