Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in 1797 to feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin, was raised amidst intellectual circles in London. Despite limited formal schooling, she received a thorough education at home. At eighteen, she eloped with Percy Bysshe Shelley, enduring financial hardship and personal loss, including the death of her first child.

The couple married after the death of his first wife, and Mary anonymously published "Frankenstein" in 1818, an achievement that was initially overshadowed by her husband's fame. Their move to Italy was marred by the deaths of two children, furthering Mary's ongoing struggle with depression. After Percy Shelley's untimely death in 1822, she focused on raising their surviving son, preserving her husband's legacy, and writing, finding solace despite financial hardships. Mary Shelley passed away in 1851, leaving behind an incredible literary legacy.