Marie Stopes 1880-1958

Born in Edinburgh. Pioneer of birth control.

Gained a BSc in Botany and Geology in 1902 from University of London. Awarded a PhD for her work on fossilised plants. Became a lecturer in Botany in 1904 at the university of Manchester, and the youngest Dsc in the country a year later.

Her unhappy marriage in 1914 became the catalyst to the campaigning and writing for which she is best remembered. She had her marriage annulled on the grounds that it had never been consummated, alleging that her ignorance about sex meant that she took two years to realise that her husband was impotent and she was still a virgin.

She wrote 'Married Love', about sex and equality in the marriage relationship, in 1918. This was followed by 'Wise Parenthood' dealing more specifically with birth control. She opened Britain’s first birth control clinic in London in 1921. She came into opposition with members of the medical profession and with the Catholic Church which culminated in a libel case in 1923. It successfully broke many taboos by introducing public discussion of the issues.