Smallpox… the word sounds harmless enough, but this “speckled monster” was the scourge of Western Europe throughout the 1700s. Why did it disappear? The credit belongs to a fiery 18th-century feminist.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu rebelled against everything—her father, societal norms, and smallpox. After catching—and recovering from—the disease, she vowed to protect her children from living the same horror. But she had to face intercontinental travel, a pus-based economy, and a stubborn kingdom to do it. If she succeeded, Western Europe could be rid of smallpox forever.

Written and reported by Brenna Biggs.

References:

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   Hager, T. How One Daring Woman Introduced the Idea of Smallpox Inoculation to England. Time (2019).

   
   
   
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   Montagu, L. M. W. Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M--y W---y M---e: Written During Her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa, to Persons of Distinction, Men of Letters, &c. in Different Parts of Europe. Which Contain, Among Other Curious Relations, Accounts of the Policy and Manners of The Turks.... Complete in One Volume. M. Cooper (1779).

   
   
   
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   Smallpox: A Great and Terrible Scourge. National Institutes of Health: U.S. Library of Medicine (2013).

   
   
   
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   Riedel, S. Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings (2005).