Anna Brownell Jameson (17 May 1794 – 17 March 1860) was an Irish writer, the daughter of a miniaturist and engraver. #CelebratingWomen
At sixteen, she became governess to a noble family. In 1821 she was engaged to a lawyer, but the engagement was broken off.
After accompanying a young pupil to Italy, she wrote a fictionalised memoir, which she gave to a bookseller in exchange for a guitar. It was ultimately published as The Diary of an Ennuyée (1826), and attracted great attention. Parallels with Jane Eyre are remarkable.
The first work which displayed her powers of original thought was Characteristics of Women, an in-depth analysis of Shakespeare's heroines.
She married the man who had previously jilted her, but the marriage was not a success. They separated, and she went on to write more books. She writes with compassion and authority on philanthropic, humanist and feminist issue. Her ideas were remarkably ahead of their time.
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