Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuille was born on December 17th, 1706 in Paris, France. Her father, the Baron de Breteuille, was Prinicipal Secretary and Introducer of Ambassadors to Louis XIV. Emilie was born into the upper class and accorded high social prestige when she entered society as an adult.
CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION AND ACADEMICS
As a child Emilie had boundless energy and was rather clumsy. She was given fencing, riding and gymnastics lesson to improve her awkwardness. She was a genious, needing few hours of sleep every night.
Proper etiquette was taught at home, tutors provided her with a basic education, and her father instructed her in Latin. Emilie had a strong aptitude for languages and by age 12 could fluently read, write and speak German, Latin and Greek.
Her father introduced Emilie to the Court at Versailles at age sixteen. She was delighted by the extravagance of court life, acquiring a taste for the expensive. Her wardrobe of gowns, shoes and accessories showed this, as did her love for diamonds.[1]
ADULTHOOD
On June 20th, 1725 at the age of nineteen, Emilie was married to the Marquis Florent-Claude duChâtelet. He was a military man and spent most of his time on garrison duties, spending long periods of time out of France. Their first child, a daughter, Françoise Gabriel Pauline, was born on June
30th 1726. Their second child, a son, Louis Marie Florent was born on November 20th 1727. In April 1733, a second son was born but he died in September 1734. [2]
In the upper class it was common for husband and wife to have extramarital affairs. Husbands were allowed to have as many as the wanted whereas it was understood that wives should have only one lover at a time. Emilie had many affairs. Before Voltaire, she had three affairs two were brief, but the affair with the Duc de Richelieu lasted for a year and a half. Her affair with Voltaire was the longest by far. It was said that upon meeting each other in the spring of 1733, they realized that they had met their "match".
Emilie continued her studies and was tutored by Moreau de Maupertuis a member of the Academy of Sciences in geometry. Emilie became interest in attending meetings of the Academy in the King's Library at the Louvre, however women weren't allowed to attend. She also wanted to join and attend discussions at Gradot, a popular coffeehouse amongst scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians. Women were also banned from coffeehouses. When denied entry, Emilie had a suit of men's clothes tailored and entered the coffeehouse joining Maupertuis' table. Maupertuis and others cheered and ordered her a cup of coffee. The owners pretended not to notice they were serving a women, and Emilie became a Gradot regular, always dressed fashionably as a man.
Throughout her adult life women were excluded from educational realms, and to remedy this Emilie hired professors to teach her geometry, algebra, calculus, and physics. Most of her education was self
taught, spending 8-12 hours a day researching, studying, and writing. The subjects that interested Emilie the most were, physics, the sciences, mathematics, philosophy and metaphysics.[3]
Emilie fell in love with the Marquis de Saint-Lambart, a coutier and a very minor poet in the spring of 1748. She learned she was carrying his child and along with Voltaire convinced her husband it was his child she carried. During her pregnancy she worked extrememly long hours finishing her translation of Newton's Principia, as she feared for her health giving birth after the age of forty. On September 4th 1749 she gave birth to a girl, and seemed healthy and content after the birth. On September 10th 1749, Emilie duChâtelet died at the age of 43, and was soon followed by her newborn baby girl. [4]
[2] O'connor, J.J., Robertson, E.F. Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil Marquise du Chatelet. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. 16 Dec. 2005.http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Chatelet.html.
[3] Birkenstock, Jane M.
[4] Emilie du Chatelet [1706-1749]. 16 Dec. 2005. http://extra.shu.ac.uk/nrc/section_3/pioneers/duchatelet.html.
Underwood, Emily G. Emilie duChatelet. 18 Dec. 2005. SDSS 4U Physics. (date accessed)
http://www.geocities.com/em_undy18/index.html