Inspirational Women in History: Émilie du Châtelet

Posted on: 7 March 2024 by Francesca Foulkes in 2024 posts

After completing modules in Gender and Feminism and Gender and Global Politics, International Relations student, Francesca Foulkes, has decided to spotlight French Physicist, Émilie du Châtelet. Find out about her incredible story, one whose whose tale still touches upon contraception and abortion issues that prevail today.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, I want to talk about Émilie du Châtelet, an incredible 18^th-century French physicist who doesn’t get the recognition that she deserves. As she was the romantic partner of Voltaire, famed historian, philosopher, and poet, du Châtelet’s works have frequently been ignored or dismissed in favour of her male partner, as has been the case for so many brilliant women throughout history. However, du Châtelet was a brilliant physicist and respected philosopher in her own right who deserves to be acknowledged for her contributions to physics and philosophy. 

A background into Émilie du Châtelet

Émilie du Châtelet was born in 1706 and, unusually for a girl at the time, received a classical education in Latin, Italian, Greek, and German, as well as astronomy, the sciences, and advanced mathematics. She entered an arranged marriage at the age of eighteen and had three children but separated amicably from her husband at the age of 26 in order to continue her studies, seeking out the best mathematicians in France to tutor her. After she was barred from gatherings of intellectuals because of her gender, she commissioned a set of men’s clothes in order to participate fully in salons. Both du Châtelet and Voltaire submitted papers for the 1738 Paris Academy prize as they disagreed over the nature of fire, and both were published with honourable mentions. Thus, Émilie du Châtelet was the first female scientist to have a paper published by the Paris Academy. Her philosophical works included challenges to John Locke and a strong argument for the secondary education of women.

Her greatest work was a translation of Newton’s Principia into French with corrections, annotations, and expansions, written in 1749 whilst she was pregnant with her fourth child. Early in her pregnancy, du Châtelet confided in a friend that she believed she would not survive the pregnancy. Therefore, she worked for up to eighteen hours a day in order to complete the work before she gave birth. Sadly, her premonition came true, and she died from complications six days after giving birth. Her young daughter also died in infancy.

Reproductive rights then and now 

Although we cannot know how du Châtelet felt about her final pregnancy at the age of 42 or what she would have chosen, we do know that she was deeply afraid that she would fail to complete her magnum opus, and of dying. And we do know that she was denied a choice because reliable contraception or abortion was not available to her. In light of the recent political climate, with abortion being heavily restricted in countries such as Poland, Austria, Croatia, and Slovakia during Covid-19 and Roe vs Wade being overturned in America in 2022, we must remember the horrors of unwanted pregnancy in a time before safe abortion and contraception. How many brilliant women throughout history have died from maternity-related complications in unwanted pregnancies, like Émilie du Châtelet? And how many more will start dying as reproductive rights are stripped from women around the world?

This International Women’s Day, remember that we must never stop fighting to uphold our rights, even those that seem secure. Speak out, campaign, and do something, so that future generations of brilliant women can reach their full potential through control over their reproduction. Attend a protest, take a module on Gender and Feminism or Gender and Global Politics, and make sure your voice is heard. We must never stop fighting to secure our future.