‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman’ has a straightforward literal meaning. The implication behind the saying is that the great woman is often ignored or taken for granted.

‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman’ was adopted as a slogan for the 1960/70s feminist movement, first having been used in the 1940s.

The first printed citation I can find of ‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman’ is from the Texas newspaper The Port Arthur News, from February 1946. This was headed – “Meryll Frost – ‘Most courageous athlete of 1945′”:

“As he received his trophy, the plucky quarterback unfolded the story of how he ‘came back’. He said ‘They say behind every great man there’s a woman. While I’m not a great man, there’s a great woman behind me.'”