For pushing back against the patriarchy, there a few better role models than Aletta Jacobs, commemorated Thursday in a Google Doodle.

Born in the Netherlands in 1854, Jacobs dreamed of becoming a doctor like her father. But to most around her, the ambition must have seemed wildly unrealistic: no Dutch woman had formally studied medicine — girls weren’t even permitted to attend high school.

Undeterred, Jacobs studied independently and passed the assistant chemist exam in 1870. Then she successfully petitioned the University of Groningen to allow her to attend classes. When Jacobs graduated with a medical degree in 1879, she became the Netherlands’ first women to do so, and the country’s first female physician.

But that was only the beginning of her work to advance women’s rights.

Against stout resistance from her colleagues, Jacobs established the world’s first birth-control clinic and helped to make contraceptives more widely available. In 1903, she quit her medical practice to focus on advancing the women’s-suffrage movement. And in 1919, the same year Dutch women won voting rights, Jacobs co-founded the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Jacobs’ died aged 75 in Baarn, Netherlands. Thursday would have been her 163rd birthday.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Joseph Hincks at joseph.hincks@time.com.