Aletta Jacobs

Netherlands' first female physician and pioneering women's rights activist

Dr. Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (1854-1929) revolutionized gender equality through her dual career in medicine and activism. As the first Dutch woman to:

• Attend university (1871)
• Earn a medical degree (1879)
• Open a medical practice

Jacobs transformed women's healthcare by:
• Introducing the first birth control clinic in Europe (1882)
• Campaigning against prostitution laws
• Improving working conditions for shop girls

Her global activism included:
• Organizing the 1915 International Women's Congress during WWI
• Lobbying for women's suffrage (achieved in Netherlands in 1919)
• Collaborating with Carrie Chapman Catt on global voting rights

Jacobs' legacy survives through:
• The Aletta Jacobs Prize for emancipation research
• Her Amsterdam clinic now housing the Atria Institute for gender equality
• Featured in the Canon of Dutch History as national icon