German physician Dorothea Erxleben died #OTD in 1762.
In 1742, she wrote Gründliche Untersuchung der Ursachen, die das weibliche Geschlecht vom Studiren abhalten, in which she argued for women's right to education & academic pursuits. In 1754, she successfully defended her dissertation, "Academical Dissertation on the Question: Why Are So Many More Diseases Incident to Women Than to Men, and How Are They to Be Cured?" She became the first woman in Germany to receive a medical degree.