Angelica Kauffmann was born a badass child prodigy in 1741.

In her early childhood, she received an incredible education for a girl in the 18th century. (Hooray for early feminism!) Her father, also a painter, encouraged her to pursue painting while her mother taught her five languages. She also read incessantly and was a talented singer. But when the time came that she had to choose between singing and painting, she consulted a priest and decided to paint. And paint she did.

As a history and portrait painter, Angelica went on to become one of the founding members of the Royal Academy, a group a part of which she would remain one of two female members for the next 200 years. She was the it-girl to commission a painting from among Scottish, Irish, and English nobility and had everyone and their mom (including the Queen Mother) eating out of the palm of her very talented hand. She had works commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, George III of England and many, many more.

Her personal life was not quite as awesome as her career however. Her first marriage was to a man named Count Frederick de Horn, who was a Swedish imposter. There are countering viewpoints about how she fell into this marriage. One source says that, “her vanity made her the victim of a cruel deception.” Another says that she was “seduced into a clandestine marriage.” Either way she dumped him as soon as she found out that he was a poser. When he died, she married another artist, Antonio Zucchi, who turned out to be incredibly forward thinking in terms of feminism and ran the household and kept track of their accounts while his wife brought in the dough. Angelica Kauffmann was described as “the most accomplished woman in Europe” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and left a legacy of badassery behind her.

Swiss (Born October 30, 1741 - Died November 5, 1807)

Dad was a painter.

Pretty, great voice, spoke five languages.

She eloped and married an adventurer who pretended to be a Swedish Count. They separated, and she had to wait for him to die before she could marry again.

She was pals with Joshua Reynolds and Goethe.