English playwright and spy Aphra Behn was baptised on this day in 1640. Born in Canterbury, Kent, her parentage and background are unclear, though she was probably the daughter of a barber. Largely self-educated, she lived for a time in the Dutch-controlled colony Suriname in South America. On her return to England, she married Johan Behn in 1664, who is thought to have died a few years later. By 1666, Behn was attached to the court of King Charles II, and was probably recruited as a spy during the Anglo-Dutch War, working in the Netherlands and Brussels under the name “Astrea”. Left in poverty due to the King’s tardiness in paying her, she borrowed money to return to England, possibly spending time in a debtor’s prison. She began working for the theatrical troupes the King’s Company and the Duke’s Company, becoming one of London’s most prolific playwrights. Her comedies The Forc’d Marriage, The Amorous Prince and The Rover became highly popular, and were performed at King Charles’ court. A devoted Royalist, she launched a number of literary attacks on the Whig party, and defended herself against misogynist attacks, arguing for her right to write for her living. Her relationship with the bisexual lawyer John Hoyle, who was tried for murder and sodomy, also landed her in hot water. In her final years, she wrote five novels, most notably Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave, thought to be one of the first anti-slavery tracts in English literature. Behn discussed sexuality freely in her plays and private letters, including numerous descriptions of her attraction to men and women. She died in 1689, aged 48, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, with the (probably self-penned) inscription “Here lies a Proof that Wit can never be Defence enough against Mortality“. Largely forgotten during the Victorian era, her work was revived by 20th century feminist scholars including Virginia Woolf, who wrote in her book A Room of One’s Own “All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn . . . For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”