Career
Her work examined traditional pedagogy and challenged Enlightenment writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She is often called the German counterpart to Mary Wollstonecraft. Holst was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi.
Her father died in Küstrin Prison when she was thirteen.
Holst supported herself through teaching from a young age, and eventually became the director of a school. Holst is memorialized in Judy Chicago"s The Dinner Party installation.