Biography notes:

Her Quotes:

There is no other means to do it but ourselves, so that we are not devalued and humiliated by the strangers who surround us.

Mexican children in Texas need an education. There is no other means to do it but ourselves, so that we are not devalued and humiliated by the strangers who surround us.

Working women know their rights and proudly rise to face the struggle. The hour of their degradation is past. Women are no longer servants but rather the equals of men, companions to them.

Educate a woman and you educate a family.

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Passion Fruit Black Tea – Passionate Readers Iced Tea

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Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) lost her mother and eldest sister to typhus when she was just 10 years old.

Her father was a teacher, and imbued all his children with a love of learning.

Marie graduated high school at 15 with highest honors. Knowing they had to travel west from their native Poland to find universities that would accept them, Marie and her older sister Bronya made a pact.

► Marie worked as a governess for three years to help cover the costs of Bronya’s studies as a medical student in Paris. Once established, Bronya would help Marie pay for her university education.

Marie taught her charges, and also the children of the Polish peasant workers in the village, although that was illegal.

⚗️ Marie also found a chemist in a nearby beet sugar factory who was also willing to risk arrest to teach her. Marie followed Bronya to Paris, and with little money past tuition she completed her degree in physics and math in three years.

🎓Marie Curie’s curiosity led her to two masters degrees in Physics and Math, a PhD in Physics, and two Nobel Prizes.

⭐️The first (with her husband Pierre Curie) was in Physics, for the discoveries of Polonium and Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) is certainly not the last woman to be asked how she managed her career and her family.

It seems we, as women, will have to answer this question forever.

►And the answer is as unique women are – every single woman figures out how to balance a career and a family in the way that works for her.

🔬For Marie, the solution was to marry a scientist, Pierre Curie, who shared in her work.

Marie’s daughter Irene was also a scientist, and followed her mother’s path by also marrying a scientist.

Marie’s family holds more Nobel prizes than any other family in history.

Biography notes:

📍11/7/1867 Warsaw Poland – 7/4/1934 France
Polish, worked as a governess to fund sister’s education, radiant, discovered Polonium and Radium, won 2 Nobel Prizes in different disciplines, coined word radioactive, research materials still kept in lead lined cases – still radioactive.
Source: Women in Science

• First woman to win a Nobel Prize, Physics, with her husband Pierre Curie
• Second Noble in Chemistry – only woman to win 2 Nobles.
• Got 2 masters degrees, first in Physics, second in math.
• Also got a PhD First and only woman entombed in France’s national mausoleum, the Pantheon
• Died of a rare blood disease in her 60’s, caused by exposure to excessive radiation – at the time no one knew radioactive elements could be deadly.

Source: Fight Like A Girl by Laura Barcella

In their words:

“Not only did she do outstanding work in her lifetime and not only did she help humanity greatly by her work, but she invested all of her work with the highest moral quality. All of this she accomplished with great strength, objectivity, and judgement. It is very rare to find all these qualities in one individual.” – A. Einstein

Her Quotes:

“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”

“I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy.”

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be obtained.”

“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Radiance Herbal Blend

The post Marie Curie: Radiance Herbal Blend appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Florence Nightingale, the Angel of the Crimea

Florence Nightingale, often hailed as the pioneer of modern nursing, led an extraordinary life that left an indelible mark on the world.

💵 Born into a wealthy British family in 1820, Nightingale defied societal expectations by pursuing a career in nursing, a field predominantly occupied by women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

👩🏻‍⚕️ 💉Despite facing immense opposition, she revolutionized healthcare practices during the Crimean War, where she earned the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp” for her tireless dedication to caring for wounded soldiers.

Nightingale's emphasis on hygiene and sanitation drastically reduced mortality rates, transforming nursing into a respected profession.

Beyond her groundbreaking contributions to healthcare, Florence Nightingale was also a fervent advocate for women’s rights.

She recognized the societal constraints that limited women’s opportunities for education and professional advancement. Nightingale vehemently challenged these barriers, advocating for women’s access to education and equal opportunities in the workforce. Her tireless efforts laid the foundation for future generations of women to pursue careers in diverse fields, challenging gender norms and paving the way for greater gender equality.

⭐️ Nightingale’s legacy extends far beyond the realm of healthcare, inspiring countless individuals to stand up for social justice and equality.

Her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of others, coupled with her advocacy for women’s rights, continues to resonate today. Florence Nightingale remains a beacon of hope and empowerment, reminding us of the transformative power of compassion, determination, and activism in shaping a better world for all.

Biography notes:

📍1883: Awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria
📍1907: Became the first woman to receive the Order of Merit, Britain’s highest civilian decoration
📍1908: Awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of London

Quote:

“The only English patients I have ever known refuse tea, have been typhus cases; and the first sign of their getting better was their craving again for tea.”

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Feel Better Tea

The post Florence Nightingale: Feel Better Blend appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Daughter of a County Mayo Chieftain and Sea Captain, she was discouraged from going to sea, so she cut her hair and dressed as a boy. 

Legend says she saved her Father from an English intruder by leaping onto his back. 

Married at 16 to the son of another Irish Chieftain, she took control of his fleet with considerable skill. 

Donal-an-Chogaidh O’Flaherty was always feuding to expand his territory and was killed in 1560, leaving Grace with 3 kids. 

⚓️ Grace took to pirating, commanding anywhere from 5 to 20 vessels and employing up to 200 men. 

She married her second husband Richard Bourke in 1567 for political gain. It lasted only a year, although they remained married until Bourke died 17 years later.  He was knighted in 1581 and she took the title Lady Bourke. 

She and Bourke had one child, a son born on one of her galleys. 

Legend says the ship was attacked just after his birth, and she rose from the labor bed to fend off the attack successfully. 

Grace was arrested for plundering the Irish Kingdom of Desmond in 1577, and served two years.  She was released in the hope she could tame her rebel husband – a false hope. 

After Bourke’s death from natural causes in1583, Grace settled at Rockfleet with 1000 cows and mares and uncounted followers. 

The English Governor still saw her as trouble, and his brother killed her eldest son, which cemented her position as a rebel to the English crown. 

She was arrested a second time, and got the death penalty, but her son in law volunteered to act as a hostage to guarantee her good behaviour. 

Grace continued to fight for her rights against both England and Spain, joining with one or the other for her own benefit, recorded as leading men until at least 1601. 

🕊 Grace died in 1603, a proud and brave adventurer who defended her family to the end, in spite of the spra of English rule throughout her life.

Source: Bad Girls From History by Dee Gordon 9781473862821

Biography notes:

📍1530 – 6/18/1603 Ireland

• Grace was captured twice, negotiated her own release twice, married twice and divorced once.
• She had at least two sons, having given birth to the youngest on board her ship.
• She famously stormed the castle of another son when he aligned with her enemies.
• The youngest, captured by the British, caused her to travel to London to meet with Queen Elizabeth I. She refused to bow to the virgin queen, as Grace did not see her as the Queen of Ireland.
• Grace still managed to negotiate her son’s release, payment from the Queen for lands stolen from her, and the return of the lands. She got the money and her son, and was able to leave London with her head still firmly attached to her neck.

She has a dozen names … in Irish Folklore she is Gráinne Mhaol, but she was a real person.
Granuille, Gráinne O’Maly, Graney O’Mally, Granny ni Maille, Grany O’Mally, Grayn Ny Mayle, Grane ne Male, Grainy O’Maly, and Granee O’Maillie. All are versions of her actual name, Gráinne Ní Mháille.

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Irish Breakfast Tea – Irish Mists (a breakfast tea)

The post Grace O’Malley: Irish Mists appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Junko Tabei was the crazy mountain woman who scaled Mount Everest and the Seven Summits – that’s the tallest mountain on every continent.

She was the first woman to accomplish both feats, and she did it in the 60’s - when mountaineering was not a woman’s world. 

Being female wasn’t her only obstacle to those summits, either.

She was petite – a frail child who only grew to be four feet, nine inches tall. Still, she blazed trails!

Junko met her husband on a mountain, and he worked and looked out for their children so she could climb.

⛰ She founded the Ladies Climbing Club, and led an expedition of fifteen women, including herself, up Mount Everest. They had to struggle to fund the trip, and then, twelve days from the summit, an avalanche wiped out their camp.

⭐️ Still, they made the summit, gaining fame for the club, whose slogan was “Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves.”

Biography notes:

📍9/22/1939 – 10/20/2016 Japan

• After the 7 summits she achieved a postgraduate college degree in environmental science.
• She was worried about the type of tourism that had developed around Everest and concerned with waste on the mountain.
• After graduation she became head of the Himalayan Head Trust of Japan.
• She turned her attention to sustainable mountaineering and protecting the environment as well as focusing her attention on advancing the roles of women in Japanese society.
• Junko was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, but this did not stop her from climbing and pursuing her dream of scaling mountains in every country. “I never felt like stopping climbing,” she said in an interview “and I never will.”
• In summer 2016, she led a group of young people affected by the Fukushima disaster on an expedition to Mount Fuji.
• 🕊 She died in November 2016. 

Source

Quotes:

I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest

I met my husband on a mountain, so my family has always been very supportive

Anyone with a pair of feet who can walk can climb

The most important thing is not being concerned about having the money, time or skills to climb, but the desire. Don’t think too hard. Just do it.

When I’m exhausted at the end of the day, I’m thankful that I’m at least safe and alive.

When my child gets a bad grade on a test, I tell myself it’s not a big deal. I don’t gripe. I’m able to look at the bigger picture. Climbing has changed my values.

Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top – it is the willpower that is the most important. This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by others – it rises from your heart.

If people want to call me “that crazy mountain woman,” that’s okay.

The mountain teaches me a lot of things. It makes me realize how trivial my personal problems are .. It also teaches me that life should not be taken for granted.

I’m going to continue climbing until I’m incapable. Maybe when I’m 70 I’ll slow down, but until then, I’ll keep going and do whatever my body can handle

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Seven Summits Tea

The post Junko Tabei: Seven Summits appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Biography notes:

📍1824-1923 born in Gränna Sweden.
Orphaned at age 10, by a cholera outbreak, Amalia took work as a maid to support herself. When the family she worked for moved to Gränna, she went with them.

❤️ There she met Anders Eriksson, a tailor. They fell in love and married, commencing Amalia’s happiest year. The union was blessed in the first year with the promise of children.

🍵 Amalia was pregnant with twins, but only one daughter survived. Her husband died of dysentery within a few weeks of little Ida’s birth, and Amalia is once again alone, and with a child to raise. Widowed and impoverished at age 35 … baby Ida fell ill soon after and Amalia was unable to afford medicine from a druggist. Desperate to relieve her daughter’s sickness, she blended peppermint oil, vinegar, and sugar, along with other ingredients, into what she hoped would be a health-restoring concoction. Although Eriksson’s creation, which she dubbed “polkagris,” did not prove to have medicinal value, its taste was a big hit with little Ida and, eventually, with children all over Sweden.

🌿 Her store was visited by the Swedish royals, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg. Amelia continued making her candy until she died at 99, and only on her death bed would she divulge her secret recipe to Ida, who continued the business until 1945.

Amalia is the grandma – mormor in Swedish – we might all want, so we call her tea MorMor Peppermint – fresh mint combined with chocolate tea for a decadent cup, far better than an after dinner mint, and delicious iced or hot.

Although women were not permitted to own businesses in Eriksson’s hometown of Gränna, she petitioned the town council and won an exception. Polkagris and the confectionery she established remain beloved icons of Swedish ingenuity and business acumen.

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Mor Mor Peppermint Tea

The post Amalia Eriksson: MorMor Peppermint appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Virginia Apgar, one of the first trained anesthesiologists.

⚕️Virginia Apgar, an American pioneer in the medical field, left an indelible mark on the world with her innovative contributions.

Born in 1909, Apgar’s early life was marked by creativity and a love for music, playing both the violin and cello. Her passion for science was ignited through experiments with her father, paving the way for her remarkable journey.

Tragedy struck early in Apgar’s life with the loss of her brother to tuberculosis and another brother suffering from chronic illnesses. Despite these hardships, she resolved to become a doctor, though opportunities as a surgeon were limited.

👶🏻 Undeterred, she became one of the first female anesthesiologists, where her focus soon shifted to the welfare of newborns and women in labor.

Apgar’s post-birth examination results became known as the Apgar Score.

This simple yet ingenious assessment, conducted one and five minutes after birth, evaluates the baby’s breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes, and general appearance.

This new standard revolutionized neonatal care by providing a quick and effective method to evaluate the health of newborns. The widespread adoption of the Apgar Score worldwide has saved countless lives, identifying babies in need of immediate assistance.

Her tireless advocacy also led to safer anesthesia practices for mothers and babies, further solidifying her legacy as a trailblazer in medical history.

⭐️ As the first Professor of Anesthesia and a pioneer in numerous medical fields, Virginia Apgar’s impact resonates to this day. Her dedication and innovations have undoubtedly done more to enhance the health of mothers, unborn babies, and newborns than perhaps any other individual in the 20th century.

📍Biography notes:

• In 1961, she won the American Society of Anesthesiology Distinguished Service Award, and was honored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for her pioneering work.
• Though her work and advocacy helped thousands of mothers and infants, Virginia Apgar never married or had any children of her own.
• Virginia began playing the violin as a child and continued to play through college, She would often join chamber quartets.
• Even when facing progressive liver disease in the later years of her life, Virginia did not retire from her career.
• Apgar died on 7 August 1974 at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Five Points

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Jeanne Baret sailed around the world as part of the first French circumnavigation of the globe, led by admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville from 1766 to 1769.

Her journey was not smooth sailing, however. Because the French Navy did not allow women on their ships, Baret bound her breasts with linen bandages and boarded the Étoile dressed as a man. Jeanne became “Jean” in a masquerade that planted her place in history.

Trained by her family in their identification and medicinal uses, she earned a reputation as an “herb woman,” . . . won her the attention of a young widowed nobleman and fellow botanist, Dr. Philibert Commerçon.

Commerçon scored the botanist position on the round-the-world French Naval expedition. Then they hatched a plan for getting Baret on board as his assistant.

Because of the aforementioned “no girls allowed” rule, the couple decided she would have to live and look like a young man during the years-long journey.

In 1764, they had a son who was placed in a foster home due to the circumstances of his birth. The boy only lived one year.

Over the course of seven years there, Baret had another baby that she gave up for adoption.

Philbert’s ill health, from a recurring ulcer on his leg, and his seasickness, meant Jeanne toted equipment, supplies and plant specimens wherever they landed and cataloged the plant collection.

In Rio de Janeiro, Jeanne found a beautiful flowering vine that Philbert named Bougainvillea. As they traveled, rumors about Jeanne’s gender surfaced, and in Tahiti in 1768, her disguise was revealed.

Her exposure marked the end of the journey for Baret and Commerçon. 

In the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) Philbert discovered an old friend serving as Governor. Philbert and Jeanne stayed on as his guest, solving for Admiral Bougainville the problem of a woman on board.

As Philbert’s health deteriorated, Jeanne established herself independently. She was awarded property in Port Louis, Mauritius, where she ran a tavern.

Philbert died in 1773, and in 1774 Jeanne married Jean Dubernat, a noncommissioned officer in the French Army and the two returned to France completing her trip around the world. Jeanne was granted a pension from Admiral de Bougainville, who cited her exemplary service during the expedition.

It is 1775 and Baret was a different woman than the girl dressed as a boy who’d departed nearly a decade before. She had seen the world. She had broken boundaries, made discoveries, lost a lover, and found a husband.

Though Baret was met with no fanfare, the French government did award her a pension of 200 livres a year for her work gathering plant specimens, even remarking on record that she was an "extraordinary woman."

Biography Note:

📍7/27/1740 – 8/5/1807
🌿 1766 expedition netted more than 70 plants, all named after the trip’s lead botanist, Commerçon. He had intended to name a beautiful Madagascar genus after his partner, but died before the paperwork was published.

🌿Biologist Eric Tepe to name a vegetable related to the tomato and potato after Baret: Solanum baretiae. “I have always admired explorers,” Tepe explained, “Especially botanical explorers. We know many of their names, and they all have endured hardships in pursuit of interesting plants, but few have sacrificed so much and endured so much as Baret.”

Source

🌿Ridley writes that while the boat was docked at Rio—with (captain of the ship) Bougainville investigating the at-port murder of the Étoile’s chaplain, and Commerson handicapped by lingering leg infections after a dog bite—Baret scrambled into the jungle to scour for specimens. Here, her discovery of the dense and brightly-colored bougainvillea vine (likely plucked for the medicinal potential it would have held for Commerson’s gangrene) made history.

🌿Though Commerson originally christened the plant under a genus Baretia, the genus has since been reclassified.

Source

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

Ginger Peach Beret Tea

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In a ten-year span, Ching’s “Red Flag Fleet”, a pirate armada consisting of somewhere around four hundred Chinese twenty-gun junks and several thousand men, sailed up and down the coast of Imperial China kicking asses, sacking towns, breaking necks and cashing cheques. 

Few pirates ever enjoyed such unbridled financial and military success as the Red Flag Fleet, thanks in a large part to the cunning and ruthlessness of Captain Ching Shih and her desire to be the most feared pirate in history.

Biography notes:

📍 1775, Guangdong Province, China – 1844, Macao Cantonese,

According to legend, following her husband’s death, she summoned the scattering fleet captains and announced: “Under the leadership of a man you have all chosen to flee. We shall see how you prove yourselves under the hand of a woman.”

She was a leader unlike any they’d had before. Where her husband had been brash and loud, she was quiet and calculating.

Soon into her rule, she took a charismatic man named Chang Pao as her husband and installed him as head of the fleet.

This proved a savvy move for a number of reasons. Chang Pao had been her husband’s right hand man (and lover… and adopted son… yeah, it’s a bit weird), and was widely respected among all the pirate fleets. Moreover, he was an illiterate fisherman’s son (he’d been taken by the pirates as a child and received little to no schooling), and likely easy to manipulate.

Under Chang Pao’s name (and Ching Shih’s guiding hand), many unruly pirate fleets united under the Red Flag banner, eclipsing the size of all other pirate groups. Every single ship, no matter how small, was given an edict from Ching Shih to display in a common area.

This outlined an incredibly hardcore code of conduct:

• Ching Shih okays all attacks beforehand. Disobey, and you’re beheaded.
• You give all loot to your superior, who distributes it afterwards. Disobey once, you’re beaten severely. Disobey twice, you’re dead.
• Don’t desert your post or take shore leave without permission. Disobey once, we cut off your ears (since you clearly weren’t using them) and parade you around. Disobey twice, you’re dead.
• Rape a female captive, better believe that’s a beheading.
• Have consensual sex with a female captive without permission, you’re headless and she’s taking a swim with a lead weight.
• If you want to have sex with a female prisoner, you take her as your wife. You are faithful to her. You treat her well. Or we take your head.
• Oh, and don’t use the word “plunder.” Instead, say “transferring shipment of goods.” It just sounds nicer.

Source, Source

After several years Chinese government came to the conclusion that their military forces (even with the combined help of England and Portuguese) will never break the defenses of Shih’s pirate operation. They finally issued an amnesty for all pirates who were willing to return to the shore as free citizens. She took advantage of this and negotiated pardon for herself and the vast majority of her fleet (while even retaining all her wealth).

Ching Shih spent the remainder of her life operating her gambling house until her death in 1844, at the age of 69.

She had the profound influence on the history and modern popular culture, appearing in several pirate-themed books and movies. 

Most recently, powerful female pirate with the name Mistress Ching appeared in the third movie of the popular Disney movie franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Source

Her Quote: 

Under the leadership of a man you have all chosen to flee. We shall see how you prove yourselves under the hand of a woman.

The post Ching Shih: Buddha Blend White appeared first on Tea and Strumpets.

Manikarnika Tambe was born in November, 1928 in Varanasi India.

🕊She was only 4 when her mother died, and her father, a court advisor, was left to raise his children alone.

🏹 She learned horsemanship, archery, self defense and shooting – unusual skills for an Indian girl.

She was married at 14 to Gangadhar Rao Newwalker, the Maharaja of Jhansi. Known after her marriage as the Rani Lakshmibai, Manikarnika had one son in 1851 but the boy was weak and did not survive four months.

The couple adopted a cousin’s son, to secure the ruling line, and called him Damodar.

Two years later, the East India Company took advantage of the Maharaja’s death and applied the Doctrine of Lapse.

► The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy followed widely by Lord Dalhousie when he was India’s Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. According to this, any princely state under the direct or indirect (as a vassal) control of the East India Company where the ruler did not have a legal male heir would be annexed by the company

As per this, any adopted son of the Indian ruler could not be proclaimed as heir to the kingdom. So, due to the Doctrine of Lapse, Britishers did not accept Damodar Rao as the legal heir.

👑 This challenged the Indian ruler’s long-held authority to appoint an heir of their choice.

She was determined to not give up on the Dominion of Jhansi and hence started assembling an army of rebellions, including women.

⚔️ Lakshmibai gave a great fight to the British as the siege of Jhansi lasted for about two weeks. After a fierce war, when the British army entered Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai, tied her son Damodar Rao to her back and fought bravely using two swords in both her hands.

She escaped to Kalpi and was accompanied by other rebellions. She then departed to Gwalior and a fierce battle was fought between the British and Lakshmibai’s army.

She died on June 17, 1858, martyring her life for India’s freedom.

She is now known as a national hero, with statues in her honor in Jhansi and Gwailior.

Biography notes:

📍11/19/1828 – 6/18/1858 India Rani Lakshmibai

In their words:

“The Rani is remarkable for her bravery, cleverness, and perseverance; her generosity to her subordinates was unbounded. These qualities, combined with her rank, rendered her the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders.” — Sir Hugh Rose on reporting her death to the Duke of Cumberland

🍵 Tea inspired by this remarkable woman:

 Rani Chai Tea

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