Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli

Journalist, Critic and Women's Rights Activist

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1810 – 1850) was a journalist, critic and women's rights activist associated with the American transcendental movement. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States.  She was also the first female book reviewer and foreign correspondent.

Well educated, Sarah became a teacher but in 1839, and began overseeing what she called "conversations": which were discussions among women meant to compensate for their lack of access to higher education. She also became the first editor of the transcendental publication The Dial in 1840 before joining the staff of the New York Tribune.   Woman in the Nineteenth Century, was published in 1845 and a year later Sarah was sent to Europe for the Tribune as its first female correspondent. While there she became involved with the revolution in Italy and allied herself with Giuseppe Mazzini.  She also met her husband there, Giovanni Ossoli, with whom she had a child. Fuller was a long time advocate of women's rights and, in particular, women's education and the right to employment. She also encouraged many other reforms in society, including prison reform and the emancipation of slaves.  Many other advocates for women's rights and feminism, including Susan B. Anthony, cite Fuller as a source of inspiration. Many of her contemporaries, however, were not supportive, including her former friend Harriet Martineau, who said that Fuller was a talker rather than an activist  In 1850 when retuning from Italy to the US, the ship she was on went down an hour outside of New York harbour and all three members of the family died.  Fuller's body was never recovered.

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