The 10 Women Behind 10 of the Most Influential Men of History

From the artcle:

"This list of ten women who stood behind ten of the world’s most powerful and influential men serves to illustrate the old adage that behind every great man, there is a great women. Over most of modern history, and perhaps even today, the potential for women to influence events on a national, and perhaps even global level, was limited to what they could achieve by influencing their husbands. Some used the conditions that they inherited to achieve something in their own right, others would have achieved what they achieved anyway, and yet others sought to engage with the work that their husbands undertook to modify, and often moderate his performance.

Either way, it is true, more often than not, that the achievements of great men, be it in politics, business, innovation or the arts, are the equal achievements of the women behind the scenes. We have selected ten women who were powerfully influential through their association with a man, and whose influence shaped the actions and activities of that man. Not all of them were universally loved, and in fact one or two were despised for the popular belief that they ruined the man in question. Be that as it may, however, it certainly always has been, and continues to be true, that behind a great man, there is almost always a great woman."