List of Somerville College, Oxford people
The following is a list of notable people associated with Somerville College, Oxford, including alumni and fellows of the college. This list consists almost entirely of women, due to the fact that Somerville College was one of the first two women's colleges of the University of Oxford, admitting men for the first time in 1994.[1] Subsequently, Somerville's alumni and history have played a very important role in feminism.
Somervillians include Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi, Nobel Prize winning scientist Dorothy Hodgkin, journalist Esther Rantzen, reformer Cornelia Sorabji, writers A. S. Byatt, Vera Brittain, Susan Cooper, Penelope Fitzgerald, Winifred Holtby, Iris Murdoch and Dorothy L. Sayers, politicians Shirley Williams, Margaret Jay and Sam Gyimah, Princess Bamba Sutherland and her sister, philosophers Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley and Onora O'Neill, archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, actress Moon Moon Sen, soprano Emma Kirkby and numerous (women's rights) activists.
Somerville educated at least twenty-six Dames, fourteen heads of Oxford colleges, ten MP's, ten life peers, four Olympic rowers,[2] three of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945,[3] two prime ministers, two princesses, a queen consort and a Nobel laureate.
Firsts
Somerville alumnae have achieved an impressive number of "firsts", both (inter)nationally and at the University of Oxford. The most distinguishable being that of the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher; the first, and only, British woman to win a Nobel Prize in science Dorothy Hodgkin and the first woman to lead the world's largest democracy Indira Gandhi, who was Prime Minister of India for much of the 1970s. Other notable firsts are Cornelia Sorabji, first woman to practice law in India and Britain and first Indian national to study at any British university; Anne Warburton, the first female British ambassador; Constance Coltman, Britain's first woman to be an ordained minister; Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp, first female Permanent secretary and Manel Abeysekera, Sri Lanka's first woman diplomat and Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera, first woman to head a major British bank.
Other firsts include: |
---|
|
Alumni
Activists and feminists
- Ruth Adler[4] (1944-1994), feminist, human rights campaigner and child welfare advocate. Founder of Amnesty International's Scotland and of Scottish Women's Aid and helped to establish the Scottish Child Law Centre.
- Rachel Armitage[5] (1873-1955), New Zealand welfare worker and community leader.
- Alison Assiter FRSA FAcSS (1949), Professor of Feminist Theory.
- Jane Esdon Brailsford (1874-1937), Scottish suffragette.
- Vera Brittain[6][7][8][9] (1893-1970), Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, and pacifist. Author of Testament of Youth.
- Stella Browne (1880-1955), Canadian-born feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner. One of the first women to speak out in somewhat offensive ways about her beliefs with a "Forward, Charge!" approach.
- Cicely Corbett Fisher[10] (1885-1959), suffragist and workers' rights activist.
- Ann Dummett (1930-2012), activist, campaigner for racial justice and published author.
- Honora Enfield (1882-1935), co-operative activist and founder of the International Women's Co-operative Guild.
- Lilian Faithfull CBE (1865-1952), teacher, headmistress, women's rights advocate, magistrate, social worker and humanitarian. One of the "Steamboat ladies" who were part of the struggle for women to gain university education.
- Lettice Fisher (1875-1956), founder of the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child, now known as Gingerbread. Wife of H. A. L. Fisher.
- Julia Gasper, independent academic specialising in historical literature, and a right-wing political activist affiliated with the English Democrats.
- Katie Ghose (1970), campaigner and lawyer. Chief Executive of the Women's Aid Federation of England and former Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society.
- Clare Hodges (1957-2011), activist who advanced the medical understanding of cannabis and campaigned for its widespread benefit as a therapeutic medicine.
- Margaret Hills (1882-1967), teacher, suffragist organiser, feminist and socialist. First female councillor on Stroud District Council.
- Genevieve Lloyd (1941), Australian philosopher and feminist. First female Professor of Philosophy in Australia and author of The Man of Reason.
- Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda (1883-1958), Welsh peeress, businesswoman and significant suffragette.
- Christabel Marshall (1871-1960), campaigner for women's suffrage, a playwright and author.
- Jean Medawar (1913-2005), author and a former chairman of the Family Planning Association, and wife of Nobelist Sir Peter Brian Medawar.
- Ann Oakley (1944), sociologist, feminist, and writer. Author of The Men's Room.
- Adelaide Plumptre (1874-1948), Canadian activist, diplomat, and municipal politician in Toronto. First woman elected chair of the Canadian Red Cross, Toronto Board of Education and first woman to sit in the Toronto Board of Control.
- Eleanor Rathbone[11] MP (1872-1946), independent MP and long-term campaigner for family allowance and for women's rights. Member of the Rathbone family and Somerville's first MP.
- Elizabeth Anne Reid AO FASSA (1942), Australian development practitioner, feminist and academic. World's first advisor on women's affairs to a head of government.
- Lucy Sichone[12][13] (1954–1998), Zambian civil rights activist. First Zambian woman to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and first woman to have her portrait displayed on the walls of the prestigious Rhodes House.
- Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh[14] (1871-1942), daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh and suffragist.
- Cornelia Sorabji[15] (1866-1954), first woman to practice law in India and Britain and first Indian national to study at any British university.
- Radhabai Subbarayan[11][16] (1891-1960), first female member of the Indian Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
Anthropologists
- Brenda Beck, anthropologist and Tamil culture icon.
- Beatrice Blackwood (1889-1975), anthropologist, who ran the Pitt Rivers Museum.
- Maria Czaplicka (1884-1921), Polish cultural anthropologist who is best known for her ethnography of Siberian shamanism.
- Katherine Routledge[17] (1866-1935), archaeologist and anthropologist who initiated the first true survey of Easter Island (leader of the Mana Expedition).
- Mai Yamani[6] (1956), independent scholar, author and anthropologist. First Saudi Arabian woman to obtain a M.St. and a D.Phil. from Oxford.
Authors
- Janet Adam Smith OBE (1905-1999), writer, editor, literary journalist and champion of Scottish literature. Assistant editor of The Listener.
- Reem Bassiouney (1973), Egyptian author and professor of sociolinguistics. Sawiris Cultural Award winner.
- Nina Bawden[9] CBE FRSL JP (1925-2012), novelist and children's writer, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Lost Man Booker Prize. One of very few who have both served as a Booker judge and made a Booker shortlist as an author. Winner of the Guardian Prize and Phoenix Award.
- Lucy M. Boston[9] (1892-1990), novelist who wrote for children and adults. Best known for her "Green Knowe" series. Winner of the Carnegie Medal.
- Marjorie Boulton[18][19] (1924-2017), author and poet writing in both English and Esperanto.
- Vera Brittain[6][7][8][9] (1893-1970), Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, and pacifist. Author of Testament of Youth.
- Christine Brooke-Rose[20] (1923-2012), writer and literary critic, known principally for her later, experimental novels.
- Dame A. S. Byatt[9] DBE HonFBA (1936), novelist, poet and Booker Prize and Erasmus Prize winner, one of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Author of Possession: A Romance.
- Penelope Fitzgerald[21][9] (1916-2000), writer, Booker Prize winner, one of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Her final novel, The Blue Flower is seen as one of "the ten best historical novels".
- Margaret Forster[9] (1938-2016), novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and literary critic. Author of Georgy Girl and Diary of an Ordinary Woman.
- Celia Fremlin (1914-2009), writer of mystery fiction. Winner of the Edgar Award.
- Maggie Gee[22] OBE FRSL (1948), novelist, one of six women among the 20 writers on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983. First female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).
- Victoria Glendinning[23] CBE (1937), biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. Honorary Vice-President of English PEN, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.
- Judith Grossman,[24] American writer.
- Joanna Hines (1949), writer.
- Jane Aiken Hodge[9] (1917-2009), American-born writer, daughter of Conrad Aiken.
- Winifred Holtby[25][26][9] (1898-1935), novelist and journalist, now best known for her novel South Riding and editor of the feminist magazine Time and Tide. The rights to the book were given to Somerville by Holtby on her death. The Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize was named after her.
- Muriel Jaeger[27] (1892-1969), author who wrote early novels of science fiction as well as plays and non-fiction.
- Liz Jensen[28] FRSL (1959), novelist.
- Daisy Johnson[29] (1990), writer. Youngest author to be short-listed for the Booker Prize. Winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
- Margaret Kennedy[8][9] (1896-1967), novelist and playwright. Author of The Constant Nymph.
- Marghanita Laski (1915-1988), journalist, radio panellist and novelist.
- Margaret Leigh (1894-1973), writer who lived extensively in Scotland and wrote about life in crofting communities.
- Dame Rose Macaulay[8][9] DBE (1881-1958), writer, most noted for her novel The Towers of Trebizond. James Tait Black Memorial Prize winner.
- Dame Iris Murdoch[6][30][9] DBE (1919-1999), novelist and philosopher born in Ireland. Twelfth on a list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 and winner of the Booker Prize. Author of Under the Net, listed in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels.
- Kathleen Nott FRSL (1905-1999), poet, novelist, critic, philosopher and editor.
- Christine Orr (1899-1963), Scottish novelist, playwright, poet, actor, theatre director and broadcaster. One of the "uninvited eight" instrumental in the founding of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. One of only three women making a salary over £500 at the BBC before WWII.
- Hilda Stewart Reid[8] (1898-1982), novelist and historian.
- Michèle Roberts[9][31] (1949), novelist and poet. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
- Constance Savery[32][33][9] (1897-1999), author of novels and children's books.
- Dorothy L. Sayers[6][34][8][9] (1893-1957), crime writer, poet and playwright. Creator of Lord Peter Wimsey and translated Dante's Divine Comedy.
- Neil Spring[35] (1981), Welsh novelist of supernatural horror, known for his bestselling book The Ghost Hunters (2013).
- Hilary Spurling CBE FRSL (1940), writer, known for her work as a journalist and biographer. Winner of the Whitbread Prize.
- Sylvia Thompson (1902-1968), novelist, writer and public speaker.
- Doreen Wallace[36] (1897-1989), novelist, grammar school teacher and social campaigner.
- Laura Wilson (1964), crime-writer. Winner of the Prix du Polar Européen and CWA Historical Dagger and shortlisted for the Gold Dagger.
- Elizabeth Young, Lady Kennet (1923-2014), writer, researcher, poet, artist, campaigner, analyst and questioning commentator.
Children's writers
- Nina Bawden[9] CBE FRSL JP (1925-2012), novelist and children's writer, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Lost Man Booker Prize. One of very few who have both served as a Booker judge and made a Booker shortlist as an author. Winner of the Guardian Prize and Phoenix Award.
- Lucy M. Boston[9] (1892-1990), novelist who wrote for children and adults. Best known for her "Green Knowe" series. Winner of the Carnegie Medal.
- Pauline Clarke (1921-2013), author who wrote for younger children. Best known for her The Twelve and the Genii. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award.
- Olivia Coolidge (1908-2006), British-born American children's writer and educator. Runner up for the Newbery Medal.
- Susan Cooper[9] (1935), author of children's books including The Dark Is Rising. Winner of the Newbery Medal and Margaret A. Edwards Award and first woman to edit the Oxford undergraduate newspaper Cherwell.
- Gillian Cross[37][9] (1945), author of children's books. Winner of the Carnegie Medal and Costa Book Award. Author of The Demon Headmaster.
- Frances Hardinge[9] (1973), children's writer. Author of Fly by Night and The Lie Tree. Winner of the Branford Boase Award and Costa Book Award.
- Clare Mallory (1913-1991), children's writer from New Zealand.
- Constance Savery (1897-1999), author of novels and children's books.
- Ann Schlee FRSL (1934), novelist and children's writer. Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and runner up for the Carnegie Medal.
- Matthew Skelton[9] (1971), English Canadian writer. Author of Endymion Spring.
Playwrights
- Marcy Kahan, Canadian-American playwright and radio dramatist. Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and a Silver Radio Academy Award.
- Margaret Kennedy[8][9] (1896-1967), novelist and playwright. Author of The Constant Nymph.
- Christine Longford, Countess of Longford (1900-1980), playwright, wife of Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford.
- Christabel Marshall (1871-1960), LGBT campaigner for women's suffrage, a playwright and author.
- Peter Morris (1973), American playwright. Writer of Guardians.
Poets
- Audrey Beecham (1915-1989), poet, teacher and historian, niece of the composer. Maurice Bowra, Warden of Wadham and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford was engaged to her.
- Viola Garvin (1898-1969), poet and literary editor at The Observer.
- Elma Mitchell[9] (1919-2000), poet. Winner of the Cholmondeley Award.
- Nesca Robb[38] FRSL (1905-1976), Irish poet, writer and historian scholar. Member of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.
- E. J. Scovell (1907-1999), poet. Wife of Charles Sutherland Elton.
- Kim Taplin (1943), poet and non-fiction writer.
- Helen Waddell (1889-1965), Irish poet, translator and playwright. Winner of the Benson Medal.
Business people
- Marjorie Abbatt (1899-1991), toy maker and businesswoman. President of the International Council for Children's Play.
- Goga Ashkenazi (1980), Kazakh businesswoman and socialite, head of Vionnet and close friend of Prince Andrew, Duke of York.
- Margaret Casely-Hayford (1959), lawyer and businesswoman. Chairs the board of Shakespeare's Globe and was chair of ActionAid.
- Cindy Gallop (1960), advertising consultant, founder and former chair of the US branch of advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and founder of the IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn companies.
- Catherine Powell (1967), businesswoman, President of the Disney Parks, Western Region, where she oversees Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland Paris.
- Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera[39] PC (1962), investment banker and politician. Government minister and Chairwoman of Santander UK, becoming the first woman to head a major British bank.
Civil servants
- Jenifer Hart (1914-2005), academic and senior civil servant.
- Dame Alix Kilroy DBE (1903-1999), one of the first two women to have entered the administrative grade of the civil service by examination (in 1925). Founding member of the SDP.
- Dame Rosalind Marsden DCMG (1950), diplomat and public servant. Ambassador and EUSR of Sudan.
- Dame Anne Mueller DCB (1930-2000), civil servant and academic. First woman to become a Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury. Chancellor of De Montfort University.
- Dame Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp GBE (1903-1985), civil servant and first woman to hold the position of Permanent Secretary.
- Ruth Thompson (1953-1916), civil servant who was director of finance of Higher Education at the DES.
Economists
- Ursula Kathleen Hicks (1896-1985), Irish-born economist and academic.
- Dame Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth DBE (1914-1981), economist and writer interested in the problems of developing countries. Winner of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award.
- Mary Kaldor CBE (1946), academic and current Professor of Global Governance at the LSE. Daughter of Nicholas Kaldor.
- Utsa Patnaik,[40] Indian Marxist economist.
- Frances Stewart (1940), professor emeritus of development economics. Daughter of Nicholas Kaldor.
- Alison Wolf, Baroness Wolf of Dulwich CBE (1949), economist and professor at KCL.
Education
- Jane Aaron (1951), Welsh educator, literary researcher and writer.
- Mary Bennett (1913-2005), academic and Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford. Daughter of H. A. L. Fisher and Lettice Fisher.
- Alice Bruce (1867-1951), educator and school administrator. Long serving staff member of Somerville Hall and President of Aberdare Hall in Cardiff.
- Dame Averil Cameron DBE FSA FBA FRHistS (1940), professor emerita of Late Antique and Byzantine History and formerly Warden of Keble College, Oxford.
- Elizabeth Millicent Chilver (1914-2014), Principal of Bedford College, University of London and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
- Elan Closs Stephens CBE (1948), Welsh educator and the Wales representative on the BBC Board.
- Barbara Craig[41] (1915-2005), archaeologist, classicist. Principal of Somerville College.
- Helen Darbishire[42] CBE FBA (1881-1961), literary scholar and Principal of Somerville College.
- Agnes de Selincourt[43] (1872-1917), Christian missionary in India, responsible for the founding of missions, becoming the first Principal of Lady Muir Memorial College, Allahabad, India and then Principal of Westfield College, London.
- Margery Fry[44] (1874-1958), prison reformer as well as one of the first women to become a magistrate. Secretary of the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Principal of Somerville College.
- Grace Eleanor Hadow OBE (1875-1940), author, principal of what would become St Anne's College, Oxford and vice-chairman of the Women's Institute.
- Ethel Hurlbatt (1866-1934), Principal of Bedford College, University of London, and later Warden of Royal Victoria College, the women's college of McGill University, in Montreal, Canada.
- Dame Tamsyn Imison DBE (1937-2017), educator and "educational strategist". Headteacher of the Hampstead School.
- Dame Kathleen Kenyon DBE (1906-1978), leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent, best known for her excavations of Jericho and has been called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. Refined the Wheeler-Kenyon method. Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford.
- Jane Kirkaldy (1869-1932), science educator at various schools in Oxford for thirty-six years. One of the first women to obtain first-class honors in the natural sciences and contributed greatly to the education of the generation of English women scientists.
- Julia de Lacy Mann (1891-1985), economic historian and Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford.
- Michele Moody-Adams, African-American philosopher, first female and first African-American dean of Columbia University.
- Dame Anne Mueller DCB (1930-2000), civil servant and academic. First woman to become a Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury. Chancellor of De Montfort University.
- Hilda D. Oakeley (1867-1950), philosopher, educationalist and author. First Warden of the new Royal Victoria College and first woman to deliver McGill's annual university lecture.
- Onora O'Neill, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve CH CBE FRS FBA FMedSci (1941), philosopher and a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.
- Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth[45] CMG OBE FRSA (1921-2010), spy, clandestine senior controller in MI6. Principal of Somerville College.
- Dame Emily Penrose[46] DBE (1858-1942), Principal of Royal Holloway College, Bedford College and Somerville College. First woman to gain a First in Greats (Classics) at Oxford.
- Alice Prochaska FRHistS (1947), former archivist and librarian, who served as Principal of Somerville College.
- Evelyn Procter FRHistS (1897-1980), historian and academic. Served as Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford. First female scholar to be admitted to the National Historical Archive of Spain and the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- Dame Lucy Sutherland DBE FBA FRSA (1903-1980), Australian-born historian and head of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
- Dame Janet Vaughan[30] DBE FRS (1899-1993), physiologist, academic and Principal of Somerville College, one of the first doctors to enter Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the liberation.
- Jean Wilks (1917-2014), headmistress at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and King Edward VI High School for Girls. Pro-Chancellor of Birmingham University.
- Olive Willis (1877-1964), educationist and headmistress. Founded Downe House School and was its head.
Fictional
- Gwen Stacy[47] from Spider-Man. Went to Somerville to study medicine in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
- Harriet Vane[49] from Gaudy Night, studied English.Undergraduate at Shrewsbury College, based on Dorothy L. Sayers' own Somerville College.
- The wife of Master Keaton[50] studied mathematics.
- Mary, Marie, Margaret and Myfanwy[52] from Larkin's Michaelmas Term at St Bride's.
- Grace Ritchie, the protagonist in Slave Of The Passion by Deirdre Wilson.
Film, journalism and media
- Daphne Alexander, Cypriot/British actress best known for playing Nadia Talianos in the BBC Drama series Casualty and Modesty Blaise in three BBC radio adaptations.
- Lucienne Hill (1923-2012), French-English translator and actor. Winner of the Evening Standard Theatre Award and Tony Award.
- Penelope Houston (1927-2015), film critic and journal editor. Edited Sight & Sound for almost 35 years.
- Evelyn Irons (1900-2000), Scottish journalist, first female war correspondent to be decorated with the French Croix de Guerre, first journalist to reach certain WWII war zones and first female Stanhope Medal recipient.
- Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington PC (1939), politician for the Labour Party and former BBC television producer and presenter.
- Marghanita Laski (1915-1988), journalist, radio panellist and novelist.
- Kara Miller, Jamaican creator of The Lifestylista, health & wellness expert, television host and writer & director working in film and television.
- Sarah Mulvey (1974-2010), commissioning editor and television producer.
- Dilys Powell CBE (1901-1995), journalist who wrote for The Sunday Times.
- Dame Esther Rantzen DBE (1940) journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the hit BBC television series That's Life!. First woman to receive a Dimbleby Award from BAFTA.
- Tessa Ross CBE (1961), film producer and executive. Received the BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award and was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour in 2013. Executive producer of 12 Years a Slave, 127 Hours, Billy Elliot and Ex Machina.
- Anne Scott-James, Lady Lancaster (1913-2009), journalist and author. One of Britain's first women career journalists, editors and columnists.
- Moon Moon Sen[53] (1954), Indian Bollywood film actress. Winner of the Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actress and Kalakar Award for Best Actress.
- Mary Somerville (1897-1963), first director of BBC School Radio.
- Auriol Stevens (1940), journalist, and former editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement.
- Rachel Sylvester (1969), political journalist who writes for The Times.
- Kati Whitaker, BBC and independent radio and TV journalist.
- Rebecca Wilcox (1980), television presenter, mainly for the BBC. Daughter of Esther Rantzen.
- Kate Williams[9] (1978), author, historian and television presenter.
- Audrey Withers OBE (1905-2001), journalist. Edited Vogue.
- Grace Wyndham Goldie (1900-1986), producer and executive in British television.
- Fasi Zaka (1974), Pakistani political commentator, columnist, radio talk show host, and television anchor. Declared a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Historians
- Muriel St. Clare Byrne (1895-1983), historical researcher, specializing in the Tudor period and the reign of Henry VIII.
- Catherine Glyn Davies (1926-2007), Welsh historian of philosophy and linguistics, and a translator.
- Kathleen Fitzpatrick[54] AO (1905-1990), Australian academic and historian. First associate professor in Australia outside the natural sciences.
- Rose Graham (1875-1963), religious historian and President of the British Archaeological Society. Her early work on ecclesiastical history is seen as a great foundation for later scholarship on women's history.
- Alice Greenwood (1862-1935), historian, teacher and writer. Second headteacher of Withington Girls' School.
- Agnes Headlam-Morley (1902-1986), historian and academic. First woman to be appointed to a chair at Oxford.
- Carole Hillenbrand CBE FBA FRAS FRSE FRHistSoc (1943), Emerita Professor in Islamic History and first non-Muslim to be awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies.
- M. D. R. Leys (1890-1967), historian and academic.
- Margaret Mann Phillips (1906-1987), academic who specialized in Renaissance literature and history.
- Julia de Lacy Mann (1891-1985), economic historian and Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford.
- Jane Robinson (1959), social historian specialising in the study of women pioneers in various fields.
- Emma Georgina Rothschild CMG (1948), economic historian and professor of History at Harvard University. Wife of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and member of the Rothschild family.
- Kate Williams[9] (1978), author, historian and television presenter.
- Mary Woodall (1901-1988), art historian, museum director, and Thomas Gainsborough scholar.
Classicists and archaeologists
- Dame Averil Cameron DBE FSA FBA FRHistS (1940), professor emerita of Late Antique and Byzantine History and formerly Warden of Keble College, Oxford.
- Dorothy Charlesworth[55][56] FSA (1927–1981), Roman archaeologist and glass specialist who served as Inspector of Ancient Monuments.
- Gillian Clark FBA, Emeritus Professor of Classics and Ancient History.
- Barbara Craig[41] (1915-2005), archaeologist, classicist. Principal of Somerville College.
- A. M. Dale[57] FBA (1901-1967), classicist and academic.
- Elaine Fantham (1933-2016), British-Canadian classicist and President of the American Philological Association.
- Miriam T. Griffin (1935-2018), American classical scholar, hold the first Women in Classics dinner (at Somerville College).
- Jill Harries,[58] Emeritus Professor in Ancient History, known for her work on late antiquity.
- Helen Hughes-Brock (1938), Minoan and Mycenaean archaeologist.
- Dame Kathleen Kenyon DBE (1906-1978), leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent, best known for her excavations of Jericho and has been called one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. Refined the Wheeler-Kenyon method. Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford.
- Donna Carol Kurtz (1943), American classicist specializing in Greek art. First Beazley Archivist at the Ashmolean Museum.
- Irene Lemos FSA, classical archaeologist specialising in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age of Greece.
- Joyce Reynolds[59] FBA (1918), classicist and academic, specialising in Roman historical epigraphy. First woman awarded the Kenyon Medal.
- Katherine Routledge[17] (1866-1935), archaeologist and anthropologist who initiated the first true survey of Easter Island (leader of the Mana Expedition).
- Margerie Venables Taylor[60] (1881-1963), archaeologist and editor of the Journal of Roman Studies. Held posts including Secretary for the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
- Katharine Woolley (1888-1945), archaeologist who worked principally at the Mesopotamian site of Ur. Married to archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley. Inspiration for the murder victim in the novel Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie.
- Maria Wyke[61] (1957), professor of Latin at UCL.
Medievalists
- Margaret Clunies Ross (1942), medievalist. Her main research areas are Old Norse-Icelandic Studies.
- Ursula Dronke[62] (1920-2012), medievalist and former Vigfússon Reader in Old Norse in Oxford.
- Judith Green (1961), medieval historian, specialising in Anglo-Norman England.
- Elspeth Kennedy[63] FSA (1921-2006), academic and a prominent medievalist.
- May McKisack (1900–1981), medieval historian.
- Mildred Pope (1872-1956), scholar of Anglo-Norman England, first woman to hold a readership at Oxford University. The character Miss Lydgate in Sayers' Gaudy Night (1935) is based on Pope.
- Evelyn Procter FRHistS (1897-1980), historian and academic. Served as Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford. First female scholar to be admitted to the National Historical Archive of Spain and the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
Law
- Margaret Casely-Hayford (1959), lawyer and businesswoman. Chairs the board of Shakespeare's Globe and was chair of ActionAid.
- Laeticia Kikonyogo (1940-2017), Ugandan lawyer and judge, rated the 6th most powerful person in Ugandan public life and first woman magistrate Grade I, first woman Chief Magistrate, first woman to be appointed High Court judge and first woman Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda. She was one of the first ever women papal knights in the history of the Catholic Church in Africa.
- Akua Kuenyehia (1947), Ghanaian lawyer who served as one of the only three female African judges at the International Criminal Court and first First Vice-President of that court
- Anne M. Lofaso (1965), law professor.
- Ann Olivarius[12][64] (1955), American-British lawyer and Rhodes Scholar.
- Dame Judith Parker DBE QC (1950), judge and barrister. Queen's Counsel and Justice of the High Court of England and Wales.
- Cornelia Sorabji[15] (1866-1954), first woman to practice law in India and Britain and first Indian national to study at any British university.
Linguistics and literature
- Reem Bassiouney (1973), Egyptian author and professor of sociolinguistics. Sawiris Cultural Award winner.
- Janet Bately FBA CBE, academic and Professor Emeritus of English Language and Medieval Literature.
- Susie Dent (1964), lexicographer and etymologist. She has appeared in "Dictionary Corner" on the Channel 4 game show Countdown since 1992.
- Una Ellis-Fermor (1894-1958), literary critic, author. Described as "a major contributor to the study of the English Renaissance". Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winner.
- Margery Fisher (1913-1992), literary critic and academic.
- Julia Gasper, independent academic specialising in historical literature, and a right-wing political activist affiliated with the English Democrats.
- Lorna Hutson FBA, (1958), the ninth Merton Professor of English Literature.
- Agnes Latham (1905-1996), academic, Professor of English at Bedford College.
- Joycelynne Loncke, Guyanese academic and musicologist. Her areas of interest include both French literature and the history of music.
- Margaret Mann Phillips (1906-1987), academic who specialized in Renaissance literature and history.
- Vivien Noakes FRSL (1937-2011), biographer, editor and critic.
- Dorjana Širola (1972), Croatian quizzer, linguist and anglicist. Highest placed woman at the World Quizzing Championship in seven years and winner of University Challenge for Somerville.
- Enid Starkie CBE (1897-1970), Irish literary critic known for her biographical works on French poets. Officer of the Legion of Honour.
- Kathleen Mary Tillotson (1906-2001), academic and literary critic, professor of English and distinguished Victorian scholar.
- Joan Turville-Petre (1911-2006), noted academic in the field of Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic and Scandinavian language studies.
- Rosemond Tuve (1903-1964), American scholar of English literature, specializing in Renaissance literature, in particular Edmund Spenser.
Music
- Harry Escott[65] (1976), composer.
- Sarah Ioannides (1972), Greek Cypriot-Scottish-Australian conductor and Fulbright Scholar.
- Joycelynne Loncke, Guyanese academic and musicologist. Her areas of interest include both French literature and the history of music.
- Dame Emma Kirkby[66] DBE (1949), soprano and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. The Queen's Medal for Music winner.
- Elizabeth Norman McKay (1931-2018), musicologist, pianist and Lieder accompanist.
- Jean Redcliffe-Maud, Baroness Redcliffe-Maude (1904-1993), pianist.
Other
- Sunethra Bandaranaike (1943), Sri Lankan philanthropist and socialite. Daughter of Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.
- Eleanor Flexner (1908-1995), distinguished independent scholar and pioneer in what was to become the field of women's studies.
- Amanda Harlech, Baroness Harlech (1959), fashion consultant. Named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Wife of Francis Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron Harlech.
- Emily Georgiana Kemp[15] (1860-1939), adventurer. Donated the Somerville College Chapel.
- Frances Lincoln (1945-2001), independent publisher of illustrated books. Won a Woman of the Year award in 1995.
- Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth[45] CMG OBE FRSA (1921-2010), spy, clandestine senior controller in MI6. Principal of Somerville College.
- Henrietta Phipps (1931-2016), landscape gardener.
- Joan Sinar FRHistS (1925-2015), archivist who set up the county record offices for Devon and Derbyshire.
- Emma Sky OBE (1968), expert on the Middle East. Political Advisor to General Kip Ward.
- Holly Somerville, botanical artist.
- Edith Standen (1905-1998), American museum curator and military officer. One of the "Monuments Men". Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
- Barbara Tizard[67] FBA FBPsS (1926-2015), psychologist and academic, specialising in developmental psychology.
- Marion Wilberforce (1902-1995), Scottish aviator. One of the first eight members of the Air Transport Auxiliary and one of only two women pool commanders in the whole ATA.
Philosophers
- Anita Avramides (1952), philosopher whose work focuses on the philosophy of language and the philosophy of the mind.
- Philippa Foot[30] FBA (1920-2010), philosopher and ethicist, creator of the trolley problem.
- Celia Green (1935), writer on philosophical skepticism and psychology.
- Martha Kneale (1909-2001), philosopher. President of the Aristotelian Society.
- Genevieve Lloyd (1941), Australian philosopher and feminist. First female Professor of Philosophy in Australia and author of The Man of Reason.
- Mary Midgley (1919), moral philosopher.
- Michele Moody-Adams, African-American philosopher, first female and first African-American dean of Columbia University.
- Dame Iris Murdoch[6][30][9] DBE (1919-1999), novelist and philosopher born in Ireland. Twelfth on a list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 and winner of the Booker Prize. Author of Under the Net, listed in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels.
- Kathleen Nott FRSL (1905-1999), poet, novelist, critic, philosopher and editor.
- Hilda D. Oakeley (1867-1950), philosopher, educationalist and author. First Warden of the new Royal Victoria College and first woman to deliver McGill's annual university lecture.
- Onora O'Neill, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve CH CBE FRS FBA FMedSci (1941), philosopher and a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge.
Physicians
- Carys Bannister OBE (1935-2010), neurosurgeon.
- Lady Eileen Crofton MBE (1919-2010), physician and author. Best known for her anti-smoking campaigns.
- Nina Coltart (1927-1997), psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, and essayist. Vice President of the British Psychoanalytical Society.
- Jean Ginsburg (1926-2004), physician and physiologist. First woman to graduate from St Mary's Hospital Medical School.
- Helen Muir CBE FRS (1920-2005), rheumatologist. Best known for pioneering work into the causes of osteoarthritis.
- Dame Janet Vaughan[30] DBE FRS (1899-1993), physiologist, academic and Principal of Somerville College, one of the first doctors to enter Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the liberation.
- Cicely Williams OM Jamaica, CMG, FRCP (1893-1992), Jamaican physician, most notable for her discovery and research into kwashiorkor.
Politicians
- Manel Abeysekera (1933), Sri Lanka's first woman career diplomat and ambassador.
- Alyson Bailes CMG (1949-2016), diplomat, political scientist, academic and polyglot.
- Margaret Ballinger (1894-1980), South African politician, first President of the Liberal Party of South Africa, "Queen of the Blacks". She held considerable power in the government of South Africa.
- Nicola Blackwood[68] MP (1979), Conservative Party politician.
- Dame Gillian Brown DCVO CMG (1923-1999), diplomat who was the second woman to be a British ambassador.
- Thérèse Coffey[68] MP (1971), Conservative Party politician and former MP.
- Indira Gandhi[6][69] (1917-1984), Prime Minister of India, named "Woman of the Millennium" in an online poll organised by the BBC.
- Helen Goodman MP (1958), Labour Party politician.
- Nia Griffith MP (1956), Welsh Labour Party politician.
- Sam Gyimah[6][68] MP (1976), Conservative Party politician, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation and former MP.
- Mary Honeyball MEP (1952), Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Labour Party representing London.
- Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington PC (1939), politician for the Labour Party and former BBC television producer and presenter.
- Peggy Jay (1913-2008), Labour councillor.
- Dame Penelope Jessel DBE (1920-1996), Liberal Party politician.
- Dame Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Baroness Neville-Rolfe[68] DBE CMG (1953), Conservative politician and Chairman of Assured Food Standards.
- Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw DBE (1912-2014), mathematician and politician who was Lord Mayor of Manchester.
- Adelaide Plumptre (1874-1948), Canadian activist, diplomat, and municipal politician in Toronto. First woman elected chair of the Canadian Red Cross, Toronto Board of Education and first woman to sit in the Toronto Board of Control.
- Lucy Powell MP (1974), Labour and Co-operative politician. Manchester's first female Labour member of parliament.
- Eleanor Rathbone[11] MP (1872-1946), independent MP and long-term campaigner for family allowance and for women's rights. Member of the Rathbone family and Somerville's first MP.
- Theresa Stewart (1930), Labour politician and the first female leader of Birmingham City Council and Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
- Radhabai Subbarayan[11][16] (1891-1960), first female member of the Indian Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
- Shirley Summerskill MP (1931), Labour Party politician and former government minister.
- Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher[6][70] LG OM DStJ PC FRS HonFRSC (1925-2013), Iron Lady, Conservative politician and first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Lauded as one of the greatest, most influential and most widely known politicians in British history, even as arguments over Thatcherism persist.
- Lena Townsend CBE (1911-2004), Conservative politician.
- Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera[39] PC (1962), investment banker and politician. Government minister and Chairwoman of Santander UK, becoming the first woman to head a major British bank.
- Dame Anne Warburton[6] DCVO CMG (1927-2015), diplomat who was the first female British ambassador.
- Eirene White, Baroness White[71] MP (1909-1999), Labour politician and journalist.
- Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby[6][41] CH MP PC (1930), politician and academic who represents the Liberal Democrats. One of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Royalty and nobility
- Lady Anne Brewis MBE (1911-2002), botanist. Daughter of Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne.
- Amanda Harlech, Baroness Harlech (1959), fashion consultant. Named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
- Christine Longford, Countess of Longford (1900-1980), playwright, wife of Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford.
- Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda (1883-1958), Welsh peeress, businesswoman and significant suffragette.
- Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh[14] (1871-1942), daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh and suffragist.
- Queen Raja Zarith Sofiah[6] (1959), Queen of Johor and member of the Perak Royal Family.
- Princess Bamba Sutherland[14] (1869-1957), daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, last surviving member of the family that had ruled the Sikh Empire.
- Lady Juliet Townsend DCVO (1941-2014), writer and first female Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.
- Elizabeth Young, Lady Kennet (1923-2014), writer, researcher, poet, artist, campaigner, analyst and questioning commentator.
Scientists
- Jane Kirkaldy (1869-1932), one of the first women to obtain first-class honours in the natural sciences and contributed greatly to the education of the generation of English women scientists.
- Margaret Seward MBE (1864-1939), first Oxford female student to be entered for the honour school of Mathematics and earliest Chemist on staff at the Royal Holloway (of which she was a founding Lecturer). Pioneer woman to obtain a first class in the honour school of Natural Science.
Biologists
- Lady Anne Brewis MBE (1911-2002), botanist. Daughter of Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne.
- Dame Kay Davies DBE FRS FMedSci (1951), geneticist. Director of the MRC and Oxford Centre for Gene Function, governor of the Wellcome Trust.
- Valerie Todd Davies (1920), New Zealand arachnologist.
- Marianne Fillenz (1924-2012), neuroscientist.
- Lilian Jane Gould FLS (1861-1936), biologist, one of the first women admitted to the Linnaean Society and one of the first European breeders of Siamese cats.
- Rosalind Maskell FRCP (1928-2016), microbiologist known for her work on urinary tract infections.
- Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS (1961), professor of mathematical biology.
- Emilia Frances Noel[72] FLS (c. 1868-1950), botanist, author and illustrator.
- Edith Philip Smith FLS FRSE (1897-1976), Scottish botanist and teacher.
- Elsie Maud Wakefield[73] OBE (1886-1972), mycologist and plant pathologist.
- Rosie Woodroffe, ecologist and academic.
Chemists
- Jenny Glusker (1931), biochemist and crystallographer. Winner of the Garvan–Olin Medal, John Scott Medal and William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement.
- Rita Harradence (1915-2012), Australian biochemist who synthesised penicillamine. 1851 Exhibition Scholar.
- Pauline Harrison[74] CBE (1926), protein crystallographer.
- Dame Julia Higgins DBE FRS FREng (1942), polymer scientist, winner of the Holweck Prize.
- Dorothy Hodgkin[6][75] OM FRS HonFRSC (1910-1994), Nobel Prize winner for her discovery of the structure of Vitamin B12 and development of protein crystallography. The first, and only, British woman to win a Nobel Prize in science. Also the first woman to receive maternity pay at Oxford University and first female Chancellor of the University of Bristol.
- Judith Howard CBE FRS (1945), distinguished chemist and crystallographer.
- Margaret Jope (1913-2004), Scottish biochemist.
Earth scientists
- Helen ApSimon CBE (1942), climatologist and academic. Well known for her research into the transport of radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster.
- Mary Winearls Porter[76] (1886-1980), crystallographer and geologist, known for her publications about ancient Roman architecture.
Mathematicians
- Anne Cobbe[77] (1920-1971), mathematician.
- Kathryn Chaloner[78] (1954-2014), statistician.
- Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw DBE (1912-2014), mathematician and politician who was Lord Mayor of Manchester.
- Caroline Series[79] FRS (1951), mathematician and President of the London Mathematical Society. Whitehead Prize winner.
- Mary Wynne Warner (1932-1998), mathematician, specializing in fuzzy mathematics.
Physicists
- Joanna Haigh CBE FRS FRMetS (1954), physicist and academic. President of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Julia Yeomans FRS FInstP (1954), theoretical physicist and academic.
Sociologists
- Reem Bassiouney (1973), Egyptian author and professor of sociolinguistics. Sawiris Cultural Award winner.
- Ann Oakley (1944), sociologist, feminist, and writer. Author of The Men's Room.
Sport
- Rosamund Dashwood (1924-2007), one of the top female masters (i.e. over 35) runners in Canadian history.
- Fiona Freckleton[2] (1960), rower. Bronze medalist in Women's Pairs, World Rowing Championships, Vienna, 1991 [80]; competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1993 World Rowing Championships.
- Jennifer Goldsack[2] (1982), American rower. Competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
- Luka Grubor[2] (1973), Croatian rower. Won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- Sophie Le Marchand (1988), cricketer.
- Patricia Reid[2] (1964), rower. Competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Silver and bronze medalist at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
- Smit Singh[81] (1991), present National Record holder of India in skeet shooting.
- Dorjana Širola (1972), Croatian quizzer, linguist and anglicist. Highest placed woman at the World Quizzing Championship in seven years and winner of University Challenge for Somerville.
- Claire Tomlinson (1944), highest-rated female polo player, first woman to win the County Cup and the Queen's Cup, first woman in the world to rise to five goals, first female player in The Varsity Polo Match and first female captain of the OUPC.
- Mary Russell Vick[82] (1922-2012), field hockey player.
Translators
- Anthea Bell OBE (1936), translator of numerous literary works, especially children's literature, including Austerlitz and the French Asterix comics.
- Catherine Glyn Davies (1926-2007), Welsh historian of philosophy and linguistics, and a translator.
- Lucienne Hill (1923-2012), French-English translator and actor. Winner of the Evening Standard Theatre Award and Tony Award.
- Helen Waddell (1889-1965), Irish poet, translator and playwright. Winner of the Benson Medal.
Theologians and clergy
- Constance Coltman, Britain's first woman to be an ordained minister.
- Agnes de Selincourt[43] (1872-1917), Christian missionary in India, responsible for the founding of missions, becoming the first Principal of Lady Muir Memorial College, Allahabad, India and then Principal of Westfield College, London.
- Peggy Jackson, current and first female Archdeacon of Llandaff.
Fellows
- G. E. M. Anscombe[30] FBA (1919-2001), analytic philosopher, wife of Peter Geach.
- David Barford FRS FMedSci, medical researcher.
- Annie Barnes (1903–2003), reader in French literature.
- Margarete Bieber (1879-1978), Jewish German-American art historian, classical archaeologist and professor, second woman university professor in Germany.
- Käte Bosse-Griffiths (1910-1998), German-born Egyptologist and writer in the Welsh language.
- Muriel St. Clare Byrne (1895-1983), historical researcher.
- Herman Cappelen (1967), Norwegian philosopher.
- Maude Clarke (1892-1935), Irish historian.
- Anne Cobbe[77][79] (1920-1971), mathematician.
- Helen De Cruz (1978), Belgian philosopher.
- Stephanie Dalley FSA (1943), scholar of the Ancient Near East.
- Marian Dawkins[83] CBE FRS (1945), biologist who is professor of ethology. Wife of Richard Dawkins
- Ursula Dronke (1920-2012), medievalist.
- Katherine Duncan-Jones[83] FRSL (1941), literature and Shakespeare scholar.
- Karin Erdmann[83] (1948), German mathematician.
- Barbara Everett, academic and literary critic.
- Philippa Foot[30] FBA (1920-2010), philosopher and creator of the trolley problem.
- Barbara Freire-Marreco (1879-1967), anthropologist and folklorist.
- Margery Fry[44] (1874-1958), prison reformer and one of the first women to become a magistrate.
- Miriam T. Griffin[83] (1935-2018), American classical scholar, hold the first Women in Classics dinner (at Somerville College).
- Grace Eleanor Hadow OBE (1875-1940), author, principal of St Anne's College, Oxford and vice-chairman of the Women's Institute.
- Edith Hall[84] (1959), scholar of classics, specialising in ancient Greek literature and cultural history.
- Helena Hamerow FSA (1961), Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology and former Head of the School of Archaeology at Oxford.
- Jenny Harrison (1949), American mathematician.
- Barbara Harvey[83] (1928), medieval historian.
- James Higginbotham FBA (1941-2014), Vera Brittain Visiting Fellow, professor of Linguistics and Philosophy.
- Dorothy Hodgkin[6][75] OM FRS HonFRSC (1910-1994), Nobel Prize winner for her discovery of the structure of Vitamin B12 and development of protein crystallography. The first, and only, British woman to win a Nobel Prize in science. Also the first woman to receive maternity pay at Oxford University and first female Chancellor of the University of Bristol.
- Alan Hollinghurst FRSL (1954), English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Booker Prize.
- Evelyn Jamison (1877-1972), medievalist.
- Dame Carole Jordan[83] DBE FRS FRAS FInstP (1941), physicist, astrophysicist, astronomer and academic.
- Aditi Lahiri (1952), India born German linguist.
- Mary Lascelles FBA (1900-1995), literary scholar.
- Chris Lintott FRAS (1980), astronomer.
- Hilda Lorimer (1873-1954), classical scholar .
- Jonathan Marchini (1973), Bayesian statistician and professor of statistical genomics.
- Dame Anna Morpurgo Davies DBE FSA FBA (1937-2014), Italian philologist.
- Daphne Osborne[85] (1930-2006), botanist.
- Valerie Pearl (1926-1916), historian, President of New Hall, Cambridge.
- Dame Emily Penrose[46] DBE (1858-1942), Principal of Royal Holloway College, Bedford College and Somerville College. First woman to gain a First in Greats (Classics) at Oxford.
- Bertha Phillpotts (1877-1932), scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology.
- Antoinette Pirie (1905-1991), biochemist, ophthalmologist, and educator.
- Mildred Pope (1872-1956), scholar of Anglo-Norman England, first woman to hold a readership at Oxford University. The character Miss Lydgate in Sayers' Gaudy Night (1935) is based on Pope.
- Mary Winearls Porter (1886-1980), crystallographer and geologist, known for her publications about ancient Roman architecture.
- Alex Rogers, professor of conservation biology.
- Rose Sidgwick (1877-1918), one of the founders of the International Federation of University Women.
- Bridget Rosewell OBE FAcSS (1951), economist.
- Steven H. Simon (1967), American theoretical physicist. LeRoy Apker Award and Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award winner.
- Charles Spence (1969), experimental psychologist.
- Phyllis Starkey (1947), Labour party politician.
- Enid Starkie CBE (1897-1970), Irish literary critic known for her biographical works on French poets. Officer of the Legion of Honour.
- Frances Stewart[83] (1940), professor emeritus of development economics. Daughter of Nicholas Kaldor.
- Mary Stocks, Baroness Stocks (1891-1975), writer who was deeply involved in women's suffrage, the welfare state, and other aspects of social work.
- Martin Suckling (1981), composer and violinist.
- Dame Lucy Sutherland DBE FBA FRSA (1903-1980), Australian-born historian and head of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
- Rajesh Thakker (1954), Professor of Medicine.
- Angela Vincent[83] FRS FMedSci (1942), neuroscientists.
- Timothy Walker (1958), botanist, Horti Praefectus (Director) of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum.
- Jennifer Welsh (1965), Canadian researcher, writer and consultant, currently the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect.
- Stephanie West FBA, classical scholar.
- Deirdre Wilson FBA (1941), linguist and cognitive scientist.
- Rosemary Woolf (1925-1978), scholar of medieval literature.
Honorary Fellows
Notable Honorary Fellows are Caroline Barron, Louise Johnson, Nancy Rothwell and Kiri Te Kanawa. Notable 'Foundation Fellows' are Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater and Wafic Saïd.
Principals
The first principal of Somerville Hall was Madeleine Shaw-Lefèvre (from 1879-1889). The first principal of Somerville College was Agnes Catherine Maitland (1889-1906) when in 1894 it became the first of the five women's halls of residence to adopt the title of 'college', the first of them to appoint its own teaching staff, the first to set an entrance examination, and the first to build a library. She was succeeded by classical scholar Emily Penrose (1906-1926), who established the Mary Somerville Research Fellowship in 1903 which was the first to offer women in Oxford opportunities for research. Alumnae Margery Fry (1926-1930), Helen Darbishire (1930-1945), Janet Vaughan (1945-1967), Barbara Craig (1967-1980) and Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth (1980-1989) also served as Principal of Somerville College.
The current principal is Janet Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon.[86] She succeeded Alice Prochaska at the end of August 2017.[86]
References
- ↑ "History of Somerville College, Oxford". Archived from the original on 20 August 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Oxford at the Olympics". University of Oxford. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Times. 5 January 2008.
- ↑ "Ruth Adler". University of Edinburgh. 1 June 2018.
- ↑ "Story: Armitage, Rachelina Hepburn". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Somerville Stories". Somerville College. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- 1 2 Manuel 2013, p. 16.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Regan 2009, p. 1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 "Somerville English: Writers". www.some.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ↑ "Cicely Corbett Fisher". Spartacus Educational.
- 1 2 3 4 "Reflections on 'Eleanor Rathbone – From Somerville to Westminster, 1893-1946'". Somerville College. 8 February 2016.
- 1 2 "Somervillian becomes the first female Rhodes Scholar to have portrait displayed at Rhodes House". Somerville College, Oxford. 14 December 2015.
- ↑ "Lucy Banda Sichone Profile". rhodesproject.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- 1 2 3 Singh, Gurhapal (2006). Sikhs in Britain: the making of a community p.45. Darshan Singh Tatla. Zed Books. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-84277-717-6. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- 1 2 3 Manuel 2013, p. 33.
- 1 2 Adams 1996, p. 118.
- 1 2 MacFarlaine, Ian. "Katherine Routledge". Find a Grave. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ↑ "Marjorie Boulton celebrates 90th birthday at Somerville in English and Esperanto". Somerville College, Oxford. 22 May 2014.
- ↑ Rust, Stuart (28 September 2017). "Obituary: Esperanto poet Marjorie Boulton". Oxford Mail.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 161.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 376.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 409.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 420.
- ↑ Dennis McLellan (19 May 1992). "Novelist Judith Grossman to Join UCI Faculty : Teaching: Author of 'Her Own Terms' will join Program in Writing in winter term of 1993, ending a long search".
- ↑ Manuel 2013, p. 40.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 494.
- ↑ Muriel Jaeger
- ↑ "The Rapture - Liz Jensen". www.bloomsbury.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Interview with Daisy Johnson, the youngest author shortlisted for a Booker". www.some.ox.ac.uk. 10 October 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Manuel 2013, p. 41.
- ↑ "A Haunting Story". Somerville College. 29 September 2017.
- ↑ Adams 1996, p. 92, 98, 118.
- ↑ Joanna Richardson. Enid Starkie. John Murray. 1973. pp.31-2, 34, 36, 40-1.
- ↑ Manuel 2013, p. 28.
- ↑ "Neil Spring". Quercus.
- ↑ "Doreen Wallace". www.norfolkwomeninhistory.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ↑ Birch 2009, p. 261.
- ↑ "Groundbreakers: A Woman Called Nesca, Sunday 5th June, 10pm BBC2NI - Northern Ireland Screen". Northern Ireland Screen. 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
- 1 2 "Baroness Shriti Vadera of Holland Park". Somerville College. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ "Somerville's enduring links with India - The Indira Gandhi Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville College, Oxford". Somerville College, Oxford. 2015.
- 1 2 3 Manuel 2013, p. 45.
- ↑ Manuel 2013, p. 26.
- 1 2 Jane Haggis, Margaret Allen (Spring 2008) Imperial emotions: affective communities of mission in British Protestant women's missionary publications c1880-1920. Journal of Social History 41(3) 691-716
- 1 2 Manuel 2013, p. 44.
- 1 2 Manuel 2013, p. 12.
- 1 2 Manuel 2013, p. 29.
- ↑ The Guardian 2014.
- ↑ Somerville Stories – Dorothy L Sayers Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine., Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK.
- ↑ Undergraduate at Shrewsbury College, based on Dorothy L. Sayers' own Somerville College.[48]
- ↑ The absent/present mother, and wife, in Master Keaton
- ↑ Motion, Andrew: Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life (London: Faber and Faber, 1993), pp. 93-96
- ↑ "St Bride's" is recognisably based on Somerville College.[51]
- ↑ "Moon Moon Sen Biography". Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ Dalziell, Rosamund (1994). "The shaming of Australian culture: refracted shame in Kathleen Fitzpatrick's solid bluestone foundations". Association for the Study of Australian Literature.
- ↑ "Dorothy Charlesworth Memorial Lecture" (PDF). CUMBERLAND & WESTMORLAND ANTIQUARIAN & ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Newsletter. 69. Spring 2012.
- ↑ "Biographical sketches of contributors". Journal of Glass Studies. 8: 173&ndash, 176. 1966. JSTOR 24184893.
- ↑ "A. M. Dale". Oxford Scholarship Online. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ "Prof. Jill Harries | School of Classics | University of St Andrews". www.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
- ↑ Smith, Julia (30 April 2018). "Joyce Reynolds: Sexism and spies — what I've seen in a century". The Times.
- ↑ "Historical Manuscripts Commission". The National Archives. August 1995.
- ↑ Wyke, Maria (1997). Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema, and History. Routledge. p. ix. ISBN 9780415906142.
- ↑ O'Donoghue, Heather (25 March 2012). "Ursula Dronke obituary". The Guardian.
- ↑ Taylor, Jane (18 May 2006). "Elspeth Kennedy". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Profile with Ann Olivarius". rhodesproject.com. 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ↑ "Harry Escott (1976-)". Faber Music. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ↑ Sweeting, Adam (24 May 2007). "The greatest soprano never to sing a note of Verdi". The Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ Harrison, Pauline (14 October 2015). "Barbra Tizard (Parker, 1944)". Somerville College Report. p. 46. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 "Four Somervillian MPs appointed to new roles in Cabinet reshuffle". Somerville College. 20 July 2016.
- ↑ Manuel 2013, p. 17.
- ↑ Manuel 2013, p. 36.
- ↑ Jeger, Lena (27 December 1999). "Baroness White of Rhymney". The Guardian.
- ↑ Ogilvie 2000, p. 948-949.
- ↑ Ogilvie 2000, p. 1336.
- ↑ "Pauline Harrison". University of Sheffield. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- 1 2 Manuel 2013, p. 48.
- ↑ Ogilvie 2000, p. 1043-1044.
- 1 2 J. J. O'Connor; E. F. Robertson. "Cobbe biography". University of St Andrews. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ↑ "Somerville College Report 2014-2015" (PDF). Global Ocean Commission. p. 51-2.
- 1 2 "Interview with Professor Caroline Series" (PDF). European Women in Maths. 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ↑
- ↑ "An Event at University of Oxford".
- ↑ "Obituaries, Somerville College Report 2011/2012".
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Emeritus and Honorary Fellows". Somerville College, Oxford. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ "Edith Hall: Curriculum Vitae, July 2008" (PDF). [www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk/ The Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama]. University of Oxford, UK. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ↑ "Daphne Osborne". The Times. 27 July 2006.
- 1 2 Announcement of new Principal at Somerville College, Somerville College, 9 Feb 2017.
Bibliography
- Anne Manuel (2013). Breaking New Ground: A History of Somerville College as seen through its Buildings. Oxford: Somerville College.
- Pauline Adams (1996). Somerville for women: an Oxford college, 1879-1993. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019920179X, ISBN 978-0-19-920179-2.
- Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie; Joy Dorothy Harvey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Routledge. ISBN 041592040X.
- Lisa Regan (2009). Winifred Holtby, "A Woman In Her Time": Critical Essays. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443817608.
- Dinah Birch (2009). The Oxford Companion to English Literature (7 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192806871.