40 Famous Homeschooled Women

March is Women’s History Month and there are a lot of famous women that were homeschooled. Inspire and encourage the young girls in your homeschool circle by sharing with them information about some of these notable women.

Each entry below has a link to biographical information on Wikipedia or elsewhere on the internet. Please be sure to review the link prior to allowing your children to visit the site to ensure appropriateness for your family.

Writers:

Virginia Woolf - English novelist, essayist, publisher, critic

Agatha Christie - best-selling English mystery novelist

Beatrix Potter - English writer and illustrator of beloved Tales of Peter Rabbit children’s books, natural scientist, and conservationist

Pearl S. Buck - Pulitzer Prize winning American author

Mary Shelley - English novelist who wrote Frankenstein

Science, Math, and Medicine:

Mary D. Leaky - British paleoanthropologist

Ruth Lawrence - British–Israeli child prodigy, mathematician, youngest graduate from the University of Oxford at the age of 13

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace - English mathematician, writer, and regarded as the first computer programmer

Florence Nightingale - founder of modern nursing profession

Elizabeth Blackwell - first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States

Mary Carson Breckinridge - American nurse midwife and founder of the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS)

Educators:

Charlotte Mason - British educator and reformer, co-founder of Parents’ National Educational Union, author of the Home Education series and other books on education

Susan Wise Bauer - American author, instructor at The College of William and Mary, founder of Well-Trained Mind Press

Catharine Beecher - co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary, sister to writer and abolitionist, Harriet Beecher Stowe

Art

Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma Moses) - American folk artist who began painting at the age of 78

Dimitra Milan - American artist, co-owner and mentor at the Milan Art Institute

Evelyn De Morgan - English painter

Music & Dance

Demi Lovato - singer, songwriter, and actress

Selena Gomez - singer, actress, producer

Taylor Swift - singer-songwriter

Misty Copeland - first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in the American Ballet

Actresses:

Emma Watson - notable film roles include Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, Belle in the live action Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, and Meg March in the 2019 version of Little Women

Dakota Fanning - youngest nominee at the age of 8 for the SAG award. Other award-winning performances for her roles in I am Sam, Taken, War of the Worlds, Charlotte’s Web, Dreamer and The Secret Life of Bees

Elle Fanning - sister to Dakota Fanning, films include I am Sam, Daddy Day Care, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8 and Maleficent

Hailee Steinfeld - award-winning actress and singer whose films include True Grit, Enders Game, Pitch Perfect, Romeo and Juliet, Bumblebee, and The Edge of Seventeen

Jennifer Love Hewitt - actress, producer, and singer best known for her television roles in Party of Five, Ghost Whisperer, and 9-1-1

Hilary Duff - actress, singer and songwriter star of the television series Lizzie McGuire and movie characters in Cheaper by the Dozen and A Cinderella Story

Athletes:

Simone Biles - gymnast with multiple World Champion and Olympic medals including the Olympic gold

Serena and Venus Williams - tennis players and winners of multiple Grand Slam titles as well as Olympic gold medals

Michelle Kwan - 2-time Olympic medalist and 5-time World champion figure skater

Jamie Anderson - snowboarder and winner of multiple Olympic gold medals as well as gold, silver, and bronze medals in other competitions.

Bethany Hamilton - professional surfer and writer who survived a shark attack in 2003 in which she lost her left arm

Tamara McKinney - four-time World Cup title skier

Katie Hoff - Olympic medalist competitive swimmer and former world record holder

Other noteworthy homeschoolers:

Jill Ker Conway - Australian-American author and the first woman president of Smith College

Abby Sunderland - youngest American to sail solo around Cape Horn while attempting to sail around the world.

Jessica Watson - youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world

Teresa Scanlan - Miss America 2011

Hellen Keller - Deaf and blind author, disability right advocate, and political activist

Amelia Earhart - aviation pioneer, first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean