Emilie du châtelet biography of nancy

Editor's note, December 17, 2021: In honor of Émilie du Châtelet's 315th birthday, Google is highlighting the contributions of this French Enlightenment thinker with a Doodle.

Read our 2017 story about her accomplishments below.

You probably haven’t heard of Émilie du Châtelet. But without her contributions, the French Enlightenment of the 1700s would have looked much different. Here are five things to know about this groundbreaking, tragic figure.

She was a polymath who ignored the gender norms of her time

Du Châtelet, born on December 17, 1706 as Gabrielle Émilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, was born at a time when women weren't normally active in public intellectual life.

Emilie du châtelet biography of nancy pelosi

Unlike most women of the time, she had a lot of advantages that allowed her fierce intellect to thrive. For one thing, her family was wealthy and influential. “Her father, Louis Nicolas le Tonnelier de Breteuil, was a high ranking