Sophia Jex-Blake was born in Hastings in 1840 and is the subject of this week's new Woman's Hour drama Not Me But Us.
In 1869 Sophia decided to train as a doctor, at a time when there were no females in the profession.
Despite being accepted at Edinburgh University, she and her colleagues endured much harassment from male students.
She eventually went on to found the first medical school for women in Britain.
Jenni talks to Dr Joanna Geyer Kordesh, author of Blue Stockings, Black Gowns, White Coats: A Brief History of Women Entering Higher Education and the Medical Profession in Scotland, who claims that Sophia Jex-Blake was one of the greatest women who ever lived.
