The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montagu: Scientist and Feminist
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s claim to fame is that she was the first mother in England to have a child ‘engrafted’ against smallpox – presumably the first in Europe outside the Ottoman Empire. As the wife of England’s ambassador to Constantinople, she had observed the practice there and already had one child inoculated before returning to England. The practice involved introducing the virus to the child via a cut on the upper arm. Both Lady Mary’s children survived, and she became a campaigner for inoculation, persuading even royalty to be inoculated. It usually worked and was far safer than natural infection. This was in 1721, 75 years before Edward Jenner developed vaccination, a safer method using the same principle of provoking an immune response.
But for this Lady Mary would now be forgotten, which would be a pity as she had an extremely colourful and unconventional life in several countries and was an author, a minor poet, and a friend of Alexander Pope. Willet’s biography covers her life in detail and is a fascinating read.
