Mary Baker Eddy

Born in Bow, New Hampshire, in 1821, Mary Baker Eddy grew up in a deeply religious family and developed a strong interest in the Bible from an early age. Over time, her experiences with illness, faith, and healing shaped the ideas that would become central to her life’s work.

In 1866, she described a turning point that led her to what she later called Christian Science. She published Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures in 1875, founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1879, and became one of the best-known women religious leaders of her era.

Eddy was also a prolific writer, teacher, and organizer whose work sparked both devoted followers and sharp critics. She died in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in 1910, but her writings and the movement she established continued to be widely read and discussed long afterward.