Born: 28 September 1852, United Kingdom
Died: 14 May 1945
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Elizabeth Isis Pogson, Elizabeth Isis Kent
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Though a few women had been elected as honorary members, Isis Pogson was the first woman to try to join the Royal Astronomical Society as a fellow. Nominated by her father in 1886, her nomination was withdrawn when two attorneys declared female fellows illegal because the society’s 1831 royal charter referred to fellows as “he.” She was admitted almost thirty-five years later, in 1920, after the society finally changed the rules.