Historical
- Polly Adler, New York Madam, 1920s -1940s
- Josie Arlington, Storyville, New Orleans Madam
- Aspasia, hetaera companion of Pericles
- Laura Bell, the "Queen of London whoredom"
- Theresa Berkeley, 19th-century dominatrix
- Calamity Jane, frontierswoman
- Alice Chambers, 19th century Dodge City prostitute
- Annie Chapman, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Veronica Franco, Venetian courtesan and poet
- Nell Gwynne, courtesan to Charles II of England
- Mary Jane Kelly, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Mata Hari (born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle)
- Clara Ward, Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, daughter of a Michigan lumberman who spent most of her life in Europe
- Nicole Leguay d'Oliva, French prostitute involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace who impersonated Marie Antoinette
- Carol Leigh, a.k.a. Scarlot Harlot, coined the term "sex worker"
- Mary Ann Nichols, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Barbara Payton, American actress turned prostitute
- Cora Pearl, 19th century French courtesan
- Phryne, Greek hetaera
- Madame du Barry, mistress to Louis XV of France.
- Rahab, Biblical prostitute who assisted the Hebrews in capturing Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7)
- Mary Boleyn - Lover of King Francis as well as King Henry VIII, the French king referred to her as "The English Mare"
- Shady Sadie (Josephine Marcus) Courtesan who had an affair with Wyatt Earp
- Elizabeth Stride, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Martha Tabram, a possible victim of Jack the Ripper
- Valérie Tasso, French author
- Thaïs, Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great
- Theodora, Empress of Byzantium
- Libby Thompson, "Squirrel Tooth Alice," madam of a brothel in Sweetwater, Texas
- Lulu White, Storyville, New Orleans Madam
- Su Xiaoxiao, Chinese courtesan of 5th century
Read more about this topic: List Of Prostitutes And Courtesans
Famous quotes containing the word historical:
“The proverbial notion of historical distance consists in our having lost ninety-five of every hundred original facts, so the remaining ones can be arranged however one likes.”
—Robert Musil (1880–1942)
“Quite apart from any conscious program, the great cultural historians have always been historical morphologists: seekers after the forms of life, thought, custom, knowledge, art.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“Religion means goal and way, politics implies end and means. The political end is recognizable by the fact that it may be attained—in success—and its attainment is historically recorded. The religious goal remains, even in man’s highest experiences, that which simply provides direction on the mortal way; it never enters into historical consummation.”
—Martin Buber (1878–1965)