Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft

Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft (29 October 1791 – 16 May 1828) was an American botanist, naturalist, botanical illustrator, and women's rights advocate, active in colonial Cuba in the early nineteenth century.

Family Anne Kingsbury was born 29 October 1791, in Rindge, New Hampshire. Her parents were Benjamin Kingsbury and Abigail Sawin (1748–1793). She married Charles Wollstonecraft, whose sister Mary Wollstonecraft achieved fame in Britain as a philosopher, author, and advocate for the rights of women. One of her nephews by marriage was Edward Wollstonecraft, a successful businessman in early colonial Australia.

Career Following the death of her husband in 1817, Anne Wollstonecraft moved to Matanzas, Cuba. an important resource for the study of natural history in colonial Cuba. She was able to publish several of her botanical discoveries during her life, many under the pseudonym D'Anville. One letter was published in the Boston Monthly Magazine. However, although she sent the almost completed manuscript to a publisher months before her death, Specimens of the Plants and Fruits of the Island of Cuba was never published. As well as drawings and descriptions of plants, the manuscript also included records of their indigenous uses. through the process of digitization. It has now been made available to view or download online via the HathiTrust Digital Library, courtesy of the Cornell University Library.