Marie Stopes was born October 15, 1880, in Edinburgh and died October 2, 1958, in Dorking Surrey. She was an author, palaeobotanist and a leading campaigner for eugenics and women’s rights. Stopes was educated at the University of Manchester where she became the first female lecturer in palaeobotany from 1904 to 1910. She was against abortion, advocating that birth control was the answer. She wrote a controversial sex manual “Married Love” in 1918, which brought the subject of birth control to the public’s attention. She recommended among other controversial ideas, compulsory sterilisation for those who were seen to be unfit to be parents. She even disinherited her own son because he married a woman with poor eyesight! In 1970 a charity was established in her name, Marie Stopes International (MSI). It continues to be one of the foremost providers of sexual reproductive health care in the UK.
“You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul’s own doing.” Marie Stopes
Further information about Marie Stopes may be found at the following websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Stopes
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/mariestopes
