|
Emilie de BRETEUIL, 1706–1749 (aged 42 years)
- Name
- Emilie de /BRETEUIL/
- Surname
- BRETEUIL
- Given names
- Emilie de
| husband | |
|---|---|
| herself |
1706–1749
Birth: 17 December 1706
— Paris, France Death: 10 September 1749 |
| Marriage | Marriage — March — |
| partner | |
|---|---|
| herself |
1706–1749
Birth: 17 December 1706
— Paris, France Death: 10 September 1749 |
|
Birth
|
|
|---|---|
|
Marriage
|
|
|
Death
|
|
|
Unique identifier
|
CD122BD73716DE41892153F7B1A32EBE8159
|
|
Last change
|
|
|
Note
|
Emilie, Marquise du Châtelet The life of Emilie de Breteuil, Marquise du Chⴥlet was surprising in many ways. Born into 18th century French nobility, her name has been linked with the work of Leibniz, Newton, Maupertius, Koenig, and Voltaire. Emilie lived but 43 years. Looking back, one of the most notable features 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 of girls at that time was either in convent schools or at home. Emilie was taught at home, and showed great academic promise at a young age. It was the opinion of those close to her that she would have no great beauty, so excellent tutors and governesses were engaged to foster her intellect. Emilie proved to be a natural linguist, and mastered Latin, Italian, and English. She studied Virgil, Tasso, Milton, Horace, and Cicero. She also learned to ride and fence, but her true love was mathematics. By her late teenage years, Emilie had become beautiful and independent, with a strong and passionate nature. She evaluated her prospects for marriage, realizing that she wanted a husband who would appreciate her while leaving her the independence she valued for pursuing her own interests. She found whom she sought in Florent-Claude, Marquis du Chⴥlet and Count of Laumont. They were married in 1725, when Emilie was 19 years old. The Marquis and Marquise du Chⴥlet lived the next five years at Semur-en-Auxios, where Florent-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. Thereafter he spent a significant amount of time with his troops. Emilie returned to the whirlwind of 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 long-lived. It was after his birth that Emilie returned to the serious study of mathematics. She engaged fine tutors, and spent long hours in salons and caf鳠discussing all matters. One particular caf頷as a gathering place for scientists and mathematicians, but when Emilie went there, she was not admitted. She returned to the caf頤ressed as a man. Although her friends and colleagues 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 was a friend to Alexis Claude Clairaut, who supported Newtonian physics when the French still favored 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 rest of her life. Voltaire was exiled to England in the 1720s, and there he, too, had become a supporter of Newton. He continued to write philosophical interpretations of the world and of scientific work, and was often on the verge of arrest due to the controversial nature of his writings. In 1734, Voltaire and Emilie moved to a du Chⴥlet family home at Cirey, near 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 |
|---|---|