History That's More Than 2-Dimensional.

Morality: Mixed

Mkabayi kaJama (c.1750-c.1843)

Power Behind the Zulu Throne

One of the most powerful women in Zulu history, this cursed princess did what was necessary to protect the realm.

Timoclea (4th century BCE)

The Woman Who Threw Her Rapist in a Well

When a soldier raped her, this woman tossed him in a well and threw rocks at him until he died.

Vitka Kempner (1920-2012)

Avenger of the Holocaust

Spy, smuggler, saboteur, partisan: this Jewish woman refused to go like a lamb to the slaughter, and fought the Nazis tooth and nail... even after the war, when she, alongside others, poisoned thousands of Nazi POWs in a revenge plot.

Toregene Khatun (?-1246)

Empress of the Mongols

Although her tribe was destroyed and she was forced into an unwanted marriage, this indomitable woman came to run the world's largest empire - with a woman as her companion.

Nitocris (22nd century BCE pseudohistory)

The 6th Dynasty's Worst Banquet Host

When her brother was killed, this pharaoh took her time cooking up revenge.

Isabella of France (c.1295-1358)

The She-Wolf of France

After years of neglect and abuse from her husband, this queen raised an army and took over England for herself.

Gouyen (c.1857-1903)

Wise Woman of the Apache

When an enemy killed her husband, this Apache woman broke the rules of her tribe to get revenge - and in so doing, became one of her tribe's greatest heroes.

Jeanne de Clisson (1300-1359)

The Lioness of Brittany

When her husband was unjustly executed, this French noblewoman-turned-pirate became the terror of France.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916-1974)

The Deadliest Female Sniper in History

When her beloved college of history was bombed by the Germans, this woman began a dark path that would see her become history's deadliest female sniper -- and one of Eleanor Roosevelt's best friends.

Taytu Betul (c.1851-1918)

The Bad Cop Empress of Ethiopia

This stubborn empress led her native Ethiopia to do the unthinkable - defeat one of the major European powers in war.