“Most are people whose greatest influence was in the western world”
This is an inspiring list, but it may be a stretch to suggest that it’s about women who changed the world – most of these are women whose greatest influence has been in the western world. In the first half of the 20th century, there was probably one woman above all others who presented the ‘east’ to the ‘west’ – Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Song Meiling), wife of China’s leader, who spoke fluent English and was the first Chinese person and only the second ever woman to speak to a joint session of the US Congress.
What about medieval ruler Wu Zetian? The only woman ever to serve as China’s emperor in her own right, she used targeted murders at court and good judgment on political economy over an empire of 50 million people to show women could rule as effectively as men.