Marie Carmichael Stopes

Born in Edinburgh on 15 October 1880, Marie Stopes built an early career as a scientist, specializing in palaeobotany and the study of coal. She studied in London and in Germany, published scientific research, and became the first woman on the academic staff at the University of Manchester.

She became internationally known after publishing Married Love in 1918, a book that spoke openly about marriage and sexual relationships for a wide general audience. Stopes went on to write widely and, in 1921, opened a birth-control clinic in London, helping expand public access to contraceptive advice at a time when the subject was still highly taboo.

Her legacy is complex. Alongside her major influence on women's health, popular writing, and public debate, historians also note her strong support for eugenics, a harmful ideology that shaped some of her campaigning. She died on 2 October 1958.