Jane Austen the "Pride and Prejudice" author will become the new face of the 10-pound note, bowing to public outrage over the possibility that only male historical figures would be represented on British currency.
The Bank of England made that announcement on Wednesday following long-time criticism that women are under-represented on the country's currency.
"We've listened, and we fully understand the concerns that were raised by many people," said Mark Carney, the new governor of the Bank of England, who took up the post three weeks ago. "We believe that our notes should celebrate the full diversity of British historical figures and their contributions in a wide range of fields."
The writer of other classics such as "Sense and Sensibility" and "Emma" will replace naturalist Charles Darwin in 2016, a year after the portrait of 19th century prison reformer Elizabeth Fry is to be phased out from the five-pound note.
The move comes after freelance journalist Caroline Criado-Perez, who set up the petition on campaign site Change.org, said: 'Without this campaign, without the 35,000 people who signed our Change.org petition, the Bank of England would have unthinkingly airbrushed women out of history.'
According to Metro UK, Criado-Perez was elated with the news and thanked the Bank for listening to her petition. 'To hear Jane Austen confirmed is fantastic, but to hear the process will be comprehensively reviewed is even better.'
Criado-Perez managed to raise £13,000 from well-wishers to mount a legal challenge to the Bank during her three-month campaign.
There are very few women featured on the British currency. At present, besides Fry the reformer, the only woman featured on British currency is 87-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who as monarch appears on all notes and coins.
