nanshe-of-nina: WOMEN’S HISTORY † ÉMILIE DU CHÂTELET (17 December 17
nanshe-of-nina:WOMEN’S HISTORY † ÉMILIE DU CHÂTELET (17 December 1706 – 10 September 1749)Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet was an author, mathematician, philosopher, and physicist during the Age of Enlightenment. She was born in Paris, as the only daughter of Louis-Nicolas le Tonnelier de Breteuil, an officer in the household of Louis XIV and Gabrielle-Anne de Froulay. Nothing is known about what kind of education she might have had, but is known that she was fluent in Italian, German, Greek, and Latin by the age of twelve and used her mathematical talents for gambling. In 1725, she married Florent-Claude, marquis de Châtelet, by whom she had a daughter and two sons. Despite her marriage, she befriended the philosopher Voltaire in 1733. It is sometimes thought that they may have met as children, but the record is unclear. In any case, the two lived together at Châtelet’s summer home, Cirey-sur-Blaise, where they devoted much of their time to the passions. Châtelet was the first women to have a scientific paper published by the Paris Academy. She also advocated kinetic energy, helped develop financial derivatives, and argued strongly for the education of women and girls. In 1748, however, she became pregnant by another lover. She died a week after giving birth to a daughter who also died eighteen months later. Her son, Louis Marie-Florent du Châtelet, was guillotined in 1793. -- source link
#history#18th century