Aphra Behn, kickass Restoration playwright who, aside from being besties with Nell Gwyn (part-time actress, part-time Charles II’s mistress) and a contemporary of some of the most epic libertines ever (like Johnny Depp John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, for example), was also a spy for England in Antwerp during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and openly admitted to leading a “life dedicated to pleasure and poetry”.  Did I mention she was also the first female credited to make a living out of writing? Essentially, if you’re not at this point in the description going HELL YES, this woman sounds awesome, you’re crazy.

I may or may not have written my dissertation on her. SO MUCH love for this lady.