Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneering feminist writer born in 1759 in London. She advocated for women's education and rights in her work Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She had an unhappy love affair which resulted in a child but never married. She later married William Godwin and had a daughter, Mary Shelley. Anna Letitia Barbauld was a celebrated 18th century poet born in 1743 who responded critically to Wollstonecraft's work in her poem "The Rights of Woman." Both women made significant contributions to women's rights through their literary works.