A woman of many firsts, Victoria Woodhull was an American suffragist, women’s rights activist, author, and politician, who recovered from a troubled childhood to become a prominent figure of women empowerment in the US. Apart from being the first woman to run for president, she also scripted history as the first woman to launch a brokerage firm and the first woman to start a weekly newspaper, along with her sister Tennessee Claflin. Known for her sex-positive stance, she supported free love and wrote about taboo topics such as sex education. Starting her life as a spiritual medium known for her clairvoyance, she went from rags to riches, using her connections and her will power. She also divorced her alcoholic first husband, breaking many social stereotypes. Eventually dragged into legal issues for promoting obscenity in her newspaper, she spent the election day in 1872 in jail and her final years in poverty.
