Lydia Becker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is on the scientist and human rights leader. For the Elysian Charter School prinicpal, see Lydia Becker

Lydia Ernestine Becker, (February 24, 1827 – July 18, 1890), was born in Manchester, and was an active leader in the early British suffrage movement. Becker was also an aspiring amateur scientist with a particular interest in biology, and astronomy. Becker differed from many early feminists in her disputation of essentialized femininity. Arguing that there was no natural difference between the intellect of men and women, Becker was a vocal advocate of a non-gendered educational system in Britain. She established the Women's Suffrage Journal in 1870, the first national paper covering the women's suffrage campaign.

[edit] Works

• 1864: Botany for Novices: A Short Outline of the Natural System of Classification of Plants
• 1867: "Female Suffrage" in The Contemporary Review
• 1868: "Is there any Specific Distinction between Male and Female Intellect?" in Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions
• 1869: "On the Study of Science by Women" in The Contemporary Review
• 1872: "The Political Disabilities of Women" in The Westminster Review

[edit] External links

• - A biography on Lydia Becker
• Manchester Region History Review Volume 5 Number 2 Autumn/Winter 1991/1992, Lydia Becker: Pioneer Orator of the Women's Movement, Joan Parker