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Emilie, Marquise du Ch©Øtelet
1706 - 1749
The life of Emilie de Breteuil, Marquise du ChpÆlet was surprising in many ways. Born into 18t h century French nobility, her name has been linked with the work of Leibniz, Newton, Maupert ius, Koenig, and Voltaire. Emilie lived but 43 years. Looking back, one of the most notable f eatures of her extraordinary life was how natural it seemed for her.
Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil was born in Paris on December 17, 1706. Education o f girls at that time was either in convent schools or at home. Emilie was taught at home, an d showed great academic promise at a young age. It was the opinion of those close to her tha t she would have no great beauty, so excellent tutors and governesses were engaged to foste r her intellect. Emilie proved to be a natural linguist, and mastered Latin, Italian, and Eng lish. She studied Virgil, Tasso, Milton, Horace, and Cicero. She also learned to ride and fen ce, but her true love was mathematics.
By her late teenage years, Emilie had become beautiful and independent, with a strong and pas sionate nature. She evaluated her prospects for marriage, realizing that she wanted a husban d who would appreciate her while leaving her the independence she valued for pursuing her ow n interests. She found whom she sought in Florent-Claude, Marquis du ChpÆlet and Count of Laum ont. They were married in 1725, when Emilie was 19 years old.
The Marquis and Marquise du ChpÆlet lived the next five years at Semur-en-Auxios, where Floren t-Claude was governor. They had first a girl, Gabrielle Pauline, and then a boy, Louis-Marie- Florent, in 1726 and 1727. In 1730, Florent-Claude was made a regimental colonel. Thereafte r he spent a significant amount of time with his troops. Emilie returned to the whirlwind o f Paris high society, gambling, socializing, and enjoying ever more freedom.
When Emilie was 27 the couple had their last child, a boy called Victor-Esprit. He was not lo ng-lived. It was after his birth that Emilie returned to the serious study of mathematics. Sh e engaged fine tutors, and spent long hours in salons and cafddiscussing all matters. One par ticular caf"as a gathering place for scientists and mathematicians, but when Emilie went ther e, she was not admitted. She returned to the cafPressed as a man. Although her friends and co lleagues inside were not fooled, she did gain admittance to join in their discourse.
Emilie?s interest in mathematics and science overlapped with her affairs of the heart. She wa s a friend to Alexis Claude Clairaut, who supported Newtonian physics when the French still f avored Descartes. She had an affair with one of her tutors, Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertius , who was also a supporter of Newton?s theories (Tee, 21).
It was in 1733 that Emilie began a friendship and affair with Voltaire that would last the re st of her life. Voltaire was exiled to England in the 1720s, and there he, too, had becom e a supporter of Newton. He continued to write philosophical interpretations of the world an d of scientific work, and was often on the verge of arrest due to the controversial nature o f his writings. In 1734, Voltaire and Emilie moved to a du ChpÆlet family home at Cirey, nea r the Belgian border, where they thought he could avoid persecution. There they set up a well -equipped lab, and spent their days studying and writing.
http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/women/chatelet.html
References:
Boyd, J. Emilie du Chatelet. Retrieved June 13, 2000 from the World Wide Web:http://www.roma. unisa.edu.au/07305/EMILIE.HTM
Emilie, Marquise du Chatelet-Laumont. Retrieved June 13, 2000 from the World Wide Web:http:// www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/chatelet.html
Mandic, S. Emilie du Chatelet. Retrieved June 13, 2000 from the World Wide Web:http://www.agn esscott.edu/lriddle/women/chatelet.htm
Osen, L. (1974). Women in Mathematics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Perl, T. (1978). Math Equals. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Group.
Smith, D. (1923). History of Mathematics (Volume 1). New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Tee, G. (1987). Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Chatelet. In Campbell , P. & Grinstein, L. (eds.), Women of Mathematics (pp. 21-25). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press .
Thornhill, G. Emilie du Chatelet. Retrieved June 13, 2000 from the World Wide Web:http://www. amazoncity.com/technology/museum/chatelet.html
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1706 - 1749 (42 years)
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