Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi

Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi was an esteemed American medical physician, teacher, scientist, writer, and suffragist. She was the first woman to study medicine at the University of Paris, and had a long career practicing medicine, teaching, writing, and advocating for women's rights, especially in medical education. Disparaging anecdotal evidence and traditional approaches, she demanded rigorous scientific research on every question of the day. Her scientific rebuttal of the popular idea that menstruation made women unsuited to education was influential in the fight for women's educational opportunities.