Women's History and More

National Women’s History Museum

“If society will not admit of woman’s free development, then society must be remodeled.”

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910),
the first U.S. female medical doctor

From time to time, beginning with Christine de Pizan in 1405, women’s history has been researched and written about, then lost. The National Women’s History Museum is hoping to change that. Currently, it exists only on line, but the effort is being made now to establish a brick and mortar museum in Washington, DC. The funds are being raised privately, but the location must be approved by Congress. Meryl Streep has thrown her support to the cause both financially and by participating in fundraising efforts.

I wasn’t aware of the project or the online museum until today, but I like what I see. Some of the exhibits include

First But Not Last: Women Who Ran For President
Clandestine Women: Spies in American History
Latinas in the New World
Chinese American Women: A History of Resilence and Resistance
Claiming Their Citizenship: African American Women From 1624 – 2009
Profiles in Motherhood

There is even an exhibit researched and written by teenagers with Girls Learn International, Inc. It highlights young women who are worthy role models. I admit I have only heard of 6 of the 30 young women listed. That’s actually embarrassing, but probably not surprising.

History is typically taught from an event perspective, or what I would call a top down approach with everything revolving around world wars, presidents, discovery of America, etc. There is really far too much valuable information to squeeze into the curriculum as it is. And of course, history keeps happening. Creative teachers find ways to inject additional information into the curriculum, but they might not even know about many of the women mentioned here. (Keep in mind, I was a math/science teacher not a history teacher.)

I think this resource could be very valuable to teachers and parents alike who want their students/children to have a more balanced perspective on history and women’s contributions to it. After all, we are half of the population and have made great contributions throughout history whether they have been highlighted or not.

For example, I knew about Victoria Woodhull, who announced her candidacy for president in 1870. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t even old enough to take office and was actually in jail on election day. But I had never heard of Belva Lockwood (shown on the left) who ran for president on the National Equal Rights Party ticket in 1884. She was a lawyer who won the right for women to argue cases before the US Supreme Court. Only receiving 4000 votes, she wasn’t discouraged and ran again in 1888. Remember in 1884 women couldn’t even vote in most of the US. The 19^th amendment allowing all US women citizens to vote wouldn’t happen until 1920.

There is a lot to learn at this site and I’m sure more is coming. Check it out. I bet you’ll like what you see. Let me know what you think and what you learned from it.

Madame Curie – Part 2

Marie and Pierre Curie were both people who preferred to stay out of the limelight. As their fame grew, Marie probably adjusted to the attention better than Pierre did, but doing the work of science was foremost for both of them. Pierre still had a low level position in one of the less prestigious schools in Paris even though he had friends who worked to try to get him a position at the Sorbonne. Marie had finished her work on magnetism and began to look around for a topic for her doctoral thesis. They took a small apartment, Pierre took on more tutoring work and Marie got her teaching certification. Their income was small, but they could make it.

During this time, there was a series of discoveries which would set the stage for the work which would bring Marie Curie her fame. Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays. The exact nature of this radiating energy was unknown, but a connection was hypothesized between X-rays and phosphorescence. Henri Becquerel, with an interest in phosphorescence, experimented to determine whether or not other minerals known to be florescent produced X-rays. After testing many different minerals, the only one which exhibited a similar type of radiating energy was uranium.

The discovery of X-rays created quite a stir, particularly with its implications for medicine, so of course the Curie’s followed the related research. Marie thought that uranium and this radiating energy were of interest and decided to investigate further. By examining ore samples containing uranium, she determined that the amount of radiation was directly related to the amount of uranium in the sample. It wasn’t affected by other factors such as temperature or other elements contained in the sample. This led her to hypothesize that the radiation was a characteristic of the atom itself.

One of the minerals that she investigated was pitchblende. Here she measured much higher levels of radiation than could be accounted for by uranium. She concluded that there must be additional elements within pitchblende that also exhibited this property of radiating energy and began the long and tedious process of isolating and identifying them. She coined the term radioactivity and established the science that would be used to analyze it.

It is important to remember that other scientists were actively involved in similar investigations. Becquerel had in fact discovered, and maybe more importantly, published the concept of radioactivity first. In Marie’s experiments she discovered that the element thorium was radioactive, but Gerhard Schmidt in Germany had discovered the same thing and published it earlier. Marie knew of the importance of announcing and publishing her work in a timely fashion. Since, neither she nor Pierre were members of the French Academy of Science, her former professor Gabriel Lippman presented her first paper on the subject for her in 1898.

It took about four years for Marie to complete her work. She isolated two radioactive elements in pitchblende: polonium and radium. At some point, Pierre put his work aside and began to work with her, as did other scientists and students. Much of the work, especially at the beginning, required back breaking effort. As it turns out, they had to process from 6- 7 tons of pitchblende to get a miniscule amount of radium. Radium is the element that caught the imagination of the world and would be used in things from paint on watch dials to “health” drinks, much to the detriment of those that came in close contact with it.

During this period of time, Marie gave birth to their first daughter, Irene, in 1897. It was, of course, expected that a woman would take care of everything related to the home. When Marie and Pierre were married, their home and lives were simple. It is said that they only had two chairs at their table to discourage visitors from staying. In the evening, they would companionably read physics together. They had a shared obsession with science that overshadowed everything else. When Irene was born this changed dramatically.

Marie went back to her work, but would have to rush home to nurse Irene. She didn’t have enough milk and had to hire a wet nurse. With two nurses to care for the baby, their meager income was stretched even more. With the hard physical work she was doing, the increased expenses, and the feeling of failure at not being able to nurse her baby, the stress took its toll on Marie’s health. Pierre’s father came to the rescue. Dr. Eugene Curie was the physician who had delivered Irene. During the same month, his wife, Pierre’s mother died of breast cancer. So, at the beginning of 1898, Dr. Curie moved in with Marie and Pierre to care for Irene.

Dr. Curie was a godsend. He was a warm, expressive man who Irene and later Eve would remember fondly. He is probably responsible for meeting most of their emotional needs. There is no doubt that Marie loved her children, but she and Pierre were in many ways lost in their scientific world. And after Pierre died in 1906, Marie would close herself off emotionally, preventing them from even mentioning Pierre’s name in her presence.

Pierre had been denied the acclaim in France that he had received internationally, in part due to his unconventional background, and Marie faced these kinds of prejudices as well because she was a woman. By 1902, she had isolated enough radium to determine its place on the periodic table and to satisfy the chemists that it was indeed a new element. She wrote her thesis and received her doctorate and in 1903, Marie, Pierre, and Henri Becquerel were nominated for and received the Nobel Prize in physics.

It wasn’t quite that simple though. The Nobel Prizes were first given beginning in 1901. That first year, and again in 1902, Charles Bouchard nominated all three of them. Other people were chosen both years. Then in 1903 four influential scientists, including Gabriel Lippman, Marie’s former professor whom she considered a friend, nominated Henri Becquerel and Pierre Curie for the physics prize with no mention of Marie. Magnus Gustaf Mittag-Leffler a respected Swedish mathematician who was on the nominating committee told Pierre of the nomination. Pierre wrote him that he would not accept the prize unless Marie was included. He approached the committee with this letter, and with the support of Charles Bouchard, the nomination was changed to include Marie.

(Mittag Leffler believed that women were under appreciated in the sciences. He was also the person responsible for raising the private funds to support the appointment of Sonya Kovalevsky to a position of full professor in mathematics at his university in Sweden. She was the first woman to become a professor of mathematics and Marie Curie the first woman to become a Nobel Prize winner. Thank you Professor Leffler!)

Life changed after the Nobel Prize. Although, the Curie’s had not patented their process for extracting radium, they did receive some income from it due to its immense popularity, but probably not enough to make up for the time they had to spend dealing with other people. They had made this choice on principle believing that it was more important to facilitate the work of science than to profit from it.

In 1904 Pierre was finally offered a chair at the Sorbonne, the same year a second daughter, Eve, was born. And in 1905, he was offered membership in the French Academy of Science. The latter came with lab facilities and three posts, one of which he gave to Marie. Then tragedy struck in 1906, when Pierre fell in the street and was struck in the head and died.

Pierre’s death changed Marie. Joy and light seemed to be taken from her. Dr. Curie sustained his granddaughters and taught them about their father, because Marie refused to discuss him after his death. This would be especially important for Eve since she was less than two years old when he died. Marie would be actively involved in their lives, planning their education and being with them, but it was never the same.

Life is complicated and it is difficult if not impossible to determine cause and effect in many areas of our lives. But Pierre Curie understood his wife in a way that I’m not sure anyone else did. Her drive to study science was probably motivated by several things, interest and ability of course, but possibly a need to do the things that had been denied her father, as well as a need to retreat from every day life when depression threatened to overwhelm her.

Marie_Curie_-_Mobile_X-Ray-Unit — Curie in a World War I mobile x-ray vehicle

It’s also impossible to give an accurate picture of a complicated person in 3000 words or less. Marie went on to become a professor at the Sorbonne in 1908 and win the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of radium, an award that was almost derailed because of an affair with Paul Langevin. (This, in itself, is a study of how women were treated differently even in the “rational” world of science. The same standard certainly wasn’t applied to Langevin or to Einstein for that matter.) She oversaw the building of The Curie Institute, developed and implemented mobile X-ray machines during World War I, and even got involved in a little intrigue to prevent the Germans from getting their hands on radium during the war.

Marie continued to teach young scientists, although she would do no more original work of the caliber she did in her early life. Some (at least at the time) would try to claim this as evidence that Pierre was the real scientist of the two, but I don’t think this is the case. Many scientists do their best work at an early age. I think they were both exceptional scientists with individual accomplishments and an understanding of each other that brought out the best of each.

Note: The next woman to win a Nobel Prize would be Marie and Pierre’s daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie with her husband Frederic Joliot-Curie in 1935, the year after Marie’s death.

Read about Marie’s early life.

Resources
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith
Six Great Scientists by J. G. Crowther

Madame Curie – Part I

One of the most famous pictures of Marie Curie is the photograph taken at the 1911 Solvay Conference. In it she is the only woman surrounded by some of the most well known scientists and mathematicians of her day: Perrin, Poincare, Einstein, Rutherford, and Langevin to name a few. It is easy to assume that genius is always recognized whether it is in a man or a woman, but Marie Curie’s fame was hard won. She also didn’t get there due exclusively to her own efforts, but in part due to the fact that there were those in her field who weren’t willing to let her be denied simply because she was a woman. There were scientists who worked against her, but also those who defended her, her discoveries, and her genius.

1911 Sovay Conference, Marie Curie is second from the left and the only woman — 1911 Sovay Conference, Marie Curie is second from the right seated and the only woman (source)

Marya Salomee Sklodowska, nicknamed Manya, was born in Warsaw on November 7, 1867. Her parents, Wladyslaw Sklodowski and Bronislava Boguski were intelligent members of the lower aristocracy. Their families no longer had wealth but they valued education and had a fierce loyalty to their native Poland. From the time of Manya’s birth until after World War I, the area of Poland where she was born and grew up was occupied by Russia. After several uprisings, the Russian government worked to suppress Polish nationalism.

Because of the suppression of the Polish people, although educated in St. Petersburg, Wladyslaw was a physicist who was not allowed to perform experiments or practice his science. He was reduced to taking low paying teaching positions in schools administered by Russians. Bronislava worked hard to get an education and worked her way up to becoming headmistress of the Freta Street School, a private school for girls in Warsaw. During this time, women were not expected to work outside their homes and were not eligible for higher education.

When Wladyslaw and Bronislava married in 1860, they moved into the apartment provided for Bronislava as the headmistress of the Freta Street School. Five children followed in six years: Zofia in 1862, Jozef in 1863, Bronislava (Bronya) in 1865, Helena in 1866, and Manya in 1867. The year Manya was born Wladyslaw received a position as assistant director of a Russian school on the western side of Warsaw which came with an apartment. The family moved and for a while Bronislava tried to continue in her position as headmistress. Eventually, the strain of caring for her family combined with travel to the Freta school and maintaining her job there took its toll and Bronislava resigned her position.

It seems that their family life was happy for a time. Both parents valued education and loved their children. At first Bronislava educated the older children at home, but her health began to decline. In 1871, when Manya was four, her mother began to show the classic symptoms of tuberculosis. Over the following years, she would go away several times for a “cure” taking Zofia with her as a nurse. When Manya was 10 her sister Zofia died from typhus. Two years later her mother succumbed to tuberculosis. These deaths hit Manya very hard. For most of her life she would suffer from periodic bouts of severe depression. At times she was able to hide it, retreating into a book, her studies, or later her work, but other times she would take to her bed refusing to eat or see anyone.

Manya continued her studies, graduating first in her class in 1883. This continued perseverance in the face of great loss took its toll. After she graduated she withdrew into despair. As a remedy, she was sent to spend the next year with relatives living in the country. She would later describe this year as one of the happiest of her life. Manya came back to Warsaw determined to work to help her family. She made a deal with her sister Bronya. She would work to help Bronya get her medical degree, then Bronya would in turn help her. To do this she took a series of jobs as a governess. One of these jobs was for the Żorawski family. During this time she fell in love with their son Kazimierz Żorawski. The feeling was mutual and they wanted to marry, but his parents were adamantly opposed to their son marrying a penniless governess.

In 1890, Bronya, who had finished her medical training and married another doctor, wrote to her sister to come to Paris. Manya still had hope that Kazimierz would be able to go against his parents and marry her. She decided not to go to Paris and began her scientific training in what was called the “Floating University.” The Floating University, or Flying University, was an underground, illegal, series of courses taught in private homes. The goal was to keep alive the Polish culture under the repressive rule of the Russians. This also provided a means for girls to get a higher education.

Eventually, Manya received a letter from Kazimierz which ended any thoughts of marriage in Manya’s mind and she decided to accept Bronya’s offer and go to Paris. In the fall of 1891, she arrived in Paris and taking the French form of her name, Marie, she entered the Sorbonne to study physics and mathematics. Initially staying with her sister, Marie found the constant activity in the home distracting and eventually rented a small garret room where she would spend her evenings studying, often without heat and neglecting her own health. She worked hard and received her degree in physics in 1893, and her degree in mathematics in 1894.

384px-Sklodowski_Family_Wladyslaw_and_his_daughters_Maria_Bronislawa_Helena — Sklodowski Family: Wladyslaw Skłodowski and his daughters Maria, Bronisława and Helena c. 1890 (source)

One of Marie’s professors, Gabriel Lippman, was able to get a small research opportunity for her to study magnetism. While attending the Floating University, Marie had begun work investigating magnetism in a laboratory run by a cousin, so it was an area of interest to her, but she had little laboratory space and poor equipment. Friends suggested that she consult a young scientist named Pierre Curie. Pierre had also done work in the area of magnetism which Marie was familiar with, but more importantly he and his brother Jacques had invented several pieces of equipment that would make Marie’s work much easier.

Pierre was a quiet man who had an unconventional upbringing. As a child he struggled learning some basic things such as reading and writing, but his genius in mathematics was recognized early. For this reason, his parents chose to educate him at home. Whether because of temperament or because of his early lack of experience with others outside the home, Pierre would always shy away from the public spotlight. This affected his ability to promote himself and achieve recognition in the form of lucrative positions in universities.

Before Marie met Pierre, he and Jacques had discovered piezoelectricity, a concept that explained the relationship between volume changes in crystal quartz and electricity. This discovery would become the foundation of many inventions in the future, such as sonar, ultrasound, and quartz wristwatches. It also brought Pierre and Jacques international acclaim in the scientific community. In spite of this, when Marie met Pierre, he was teaching at an industrial school for engineers with a small salary. It certainly wasn’t a position commensurate with his abilities or fame.

In many ways they were made for each other. Pierre never thought he would meet a woman who didn’t distract him from his science. Marie also had a need to be free from distraction, and in Pierre, she had met a man who not only understood her, but wasn’t threatened in any way by her genius. It took some persuading along with help from Marie’s sister Bronya and Pierre’s mother, but Marie finally agreed to marry Pierre in 1895. Although she needed persuading, they were very much in love, and after the wedding they settled down to work together.

Next Post – The discovery that made Madame Curie famous and how she and Pierre were able to balance science with family life.

Resources:
Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith
Six Great Scientists by J. G. Crowther

Three Women Win Nobel Peace Prize for 2011

Three amazing women have won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman. The prize has been awarded to them “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”. Sirleaf and Gbowee are from Liberia which suffered under violent civil war from 1989 through 2003. Karman is from Yemen where people have risen up and demanded a regime change, democracy and peace for all Yemenis. Their struggle is ongoing, but Karman has had an ongoing role in making the voice of women heard since 2005.

Between 1901 and 2011, 826 individuals and 20 organizations have been honored with a Nobel Prize or the Prize of Economics Sciences also given by the Nobel Committee. A few individuals and organizations have been honored more than once. Of all of these, to date only 43 women have been awarded either a Nobel Prize or the Prize in Economic Sciences, fifteen of these women have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Almost half of these awards, 21, have been awarded since 1990. It looks like perhaps women are finally being noticed for the excellent things they can achieve when given the chance.

450px-Ellen_Johnson-Sirleaf,_April_2010 — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current president of Liberia. She studied economics and public administration in Liberia and in the United States. She served as Assistant Minister of Finance and Minister of Finance in Liberia until the military coup in 1980. After making remarks critical of the new leader Samuel Doe and the ruling People’s Redemption Council, she fled the country and worked at various financial institutions including the World Bank and Citibank.

During 1985 and 1986, Sirleaf returned to Liberia where she ran for vice-president, but was arrested and convicted for sedition because of her criticism of the Doe regime. She was released because of international pressure and removed from the presidential ticket, but ran for senate instead. Although she won her Senate seat, she refused to take it in protest of the fraudulent elections which had returned Doe to power. She was imprisoned again and when released 8 months later fled the country. In 1992, Sirleaf began work for the UN. During this time she held a number of positions where she was involved in investigations into the Rawandan genocide, as well as the effect of sexual assault and conflict on women and women’s role in peace building.

The First Liberian Civil War in 1989 brought Charles Taylor to power. Sirleaf initially supported him, but came to oppose his rule and returned to Liberia for the 1997 presidential elections. The election results were controversial and Sirleaf again went into exile. The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 and conflict continued until the summer of 2003. Charles Taylor resigned and fled to Nigeria and in October vice-president Moses Blah, then acting president, turned the government over to the National Transitional Government of Liberia. In 2005, Sirleaf again ran for president for the Unity Party. After a runoff election against George Weah, she won 59% of the vote. The election was contested, but Sirleaf was finally declared president on November 23, 2005. Sirleaf won a second term in office in 2011.

360px-Leymah-gbowee-at-emu-press-conference — Leymah Gbowee
Press conference at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA (US). Jon Styer/Eastern Mennonite University

Leymah Gbowee was 17 when the First Liberian Civil War broke out. After the war, she heard of a training program given by UNICEF to help victims of war cope with their tragedies. She was also the victim of abuse and looking for peace and a way to support her children fled to Ghana. They were basically homeless refugees and eventually returned to Liberia. When she returned she became a volunteer in the Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program run by St Peter’s Lutheran Church in Monrovia. While volunteering, she worked on her Associate degree in Social Work, which she received in 2001. The pastors and lay people of the Lutheran church joined with the Christian Health Association of Liberia to try to help heal the damage done during the conflict.

All war is brutal, but the Liberian conflict made extensive use of child soldiers and many women and girls were victims of rape as a weapon of war. Gbowee realized that “if any changes were to be made in society it had to be by the mothers.” She began reading about peaceful protest, authors such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. She also met other people who were committed to peace, such as Thelma Ekiyor of Nigeria who organized the first meeting of the Women in Peacebuilding Network. Ekiyor named Gbowee as coordinator of the Liberian Women’s Initiative.

In 2002, Gbowee had a dream where God told her to “Gather the women and pray for peace.” She thought the dream was for others to act on, but the women she was working with and whom she respected convinced her that God expected her to act on it. Soon, Gbowee and a few allies, including Asatu a Muslim woman, began going around to churches and mosques after services, and into the market, to talk to women. They handed out fliers with both words and pictures for the women who couldn’t read. Their flyers said “We are tired! We are tired of our children being killed! We are tired of being raped! Women, wake up – you have a voice in the peace process!”

Their movement the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, started with local women and spread. They dressed in white and tried many different strategies, constantly re-evaluating what worked and didn’t. They sang and prayed both Christian and Muslim prayers, staged protests, had sit-ins and even went on a sex strike. Finally, they occupied a soccer field that President Charles Taylor had to pass every day going to and from the Capitol. Charles Taylor finally agreed to meet with them. They extracted a promise from him to go to the peace talks in Ghana.

In June 2003, Gbowee led a delegation of women to the peace talks. They didn’t have a seat at the table, but kept up their demonstrations outside the building. As the talks stalled inside the luxury hotels where the men were meeting, the women kept up their vigil outside in the heat through the month of July. Finally, the women moved inside and blocked the door. Locking their arms together they told the men that they wouldn’t let them out. When the men threatened to break through, their last resort was to take off their clothes. In Gbowee’s book Mighty Be Our Powers, she explains that “In Africa, it’s a terrible curse to see a married or elderly woman deliberately bare herself.” The entire atmosphere of the talks changed and eventually an agreement was reached. The Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed on August 18, 2003 and the Liberian War was officially over. There is still much work to be done. After her election this year President Sirleaf announced “a national peace and reconciliation initiative” headed by Leymah Gbowee. You can see a delightful interview with Leymah and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show here.

569px-Tawakkol_Karman — Tawakkol Karman
This photo was taken by Harry Wad.

Tawakkol Karman has been fighting for human rights in Yemen for a number of years. Although the Arab Spring has brought the fight for democracy and freedom in the Middle East to our attention in the west only this year, it is not new to Karman. She is a married mother of three with an undergraduate degree in commerce and a graduate degree in political science. In 2005 she founded Women Journalists Without Chains along with 7 other female journalists to promote freedom of expression and democratic rights. This group has documented Yemeni abuses of freedom of the press since 2005. She has openly criticized the government for trials targeting journalists and led demonstrations and sit-ins in Tahrir Square, in Yemen’s capitol Sana’a since 2007.

She is a strong advocate for freedom of the press and for women’s issues, such as education and a ban on forcing women younger than 17 to marry, and has spoken out against government corruption. In January of 2011 after organizing protests against the current government, Karman was arrested and held in chains for 36 hours. Protests and demonstrations through out the country called for her release. She has continued to lead demonstrations.

In a June18 article in The New York Times article “Yemen’s Unfinished Revolution,” she has also been critical of the role of the US in continuing the status quo and putting the “War on Terror” over the human rights of the people of Yemen. In the article she expresses deep regard and respect for the US and its government, as well as US security concerns, and asks that they engage the democratic movement in Yemen rather than depending only on the members of the old regime. She asks the same thing of the government of Saudi Arabia.

Karman was in New York in October to demonstrate in front of the UN against giving amnesty to Saleh and calling for his prosecution in the International Criminal Court. During that meeting the UN Security Council signed a resolution condemning Saleh’s government, but supporting an initiative that would give him immunity. While Karman was in New York, she gave an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now which you can see here.

Women are coming into their own in many ways. These three women demonstrate courage that is inspiring. May they inspire us to be all that we can be.

Resources:
Mighty Be Our Powers by Leymah Gbowee written with Carol Mithers.
This Child Will Be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
“The Nobel Peace Prize 2011”. Nobelprize.org. 13 Dec 2011
“Facts on the Nobel Peace Prizes”. Nobelprize.org. 13 Dec 2011
Tawakkul Karman on wikipedia
Leymah Gbowee on wikipedia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on wikipedia

Sonya Kovalevsky – A Marriage of Convenience

Sonya Kovalevsky in 1880, photographer unknown (source)

“Ask him to marry one of us? You’re crazy,” said Inez.

“It’s the perfect solution”, replied Sonya’s sister Anna. “A lot of people are doing it. Women can’t study in Russia. At least the aristocracy can’t. It’s considered improper,” as she rolled her eyes. “But married women can travel.”

“And?”

“Don’t you see? If one of us gets married, we can both travel to a foreign university to study. When we get there he can go his own way. Strictly a marriage of convenience!”

So the conversation might have gone, in the winter of 1867 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Anna Krukovsky, her sister Sonya, and their friend Inez wanted to be a part of the new revolution among Russia’s young people. They wanted to see freedom, progress, and a rise in the standard of education for women in their country. In the 1860s and 70s, quite a few young Russian women among the aristocracy were leaving their parents homes to study. They did this by marrying young men of like mind, going abroad to study, and then going their separate ways.

Sonya, born in January of 1850 in Russia, was the daughter of Vasily Korvin-Krukovsky and Yelizaveta Shubert both well educated members of the Russian aristocracy. But, they, like most of us, were products of their own time. This dictated that girls were educated in the home and only in certain subjects. Sonya was raised, primarily, by a nursery maids and governesses. The first governess that she recalls in her fictionalized autobiography of her childhood, The Sister’s Rajevsky, was the “abominable French woman.” This woman was sent away when it was discovered that Anna could barely read. She was replaced by a Russian woman who had been living in England and had completely absorbed the English way of life. She brought a much needed discipline into the household. Under this new governess, Sonya discovered her affinity for science and mathematics. Her uncle, Pyotr Vasilievich Krukovsky , spoke about mathematics and it is said that the walls of her bedroom were papered with pages from a book on differential and integral calculus. Even though she didn’t have the background to understand it at the time, mathematics captured Sonya’s imagination. What she learned, however, was strictly controlled in the household. It had to be “proper” for a young woman.

Anna Jaclard, Sonya's sister, before 1887, artist unknown (source) — Anna Jaclard, Sonya’s sister, before 1887, artist unknown (source)

Anna had a flair for literature and had defied the conventions by sending a couple of her stories to St. Petersburg to the attention of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. They had been published and she had been paid. Unfortunately, her father was the first to go through the post on the day her payment arrived, addressed to the housekeeper. He insisted that the housekeeper open it in front of him and explain. Anna was caught. Her father felt betrayed and humiliated, and for a time refused to speak to Anna.

The girls began to work on their mother and eventually were able to convince their parents to hear one of the stories. This resulted in a slight relaxing of restrictions. Anna was allowed to correspond with Dostoyevsky, and they were allowed to order books on various topics. Due to the influence of one of her father’s friends, a tutor was retained to teach Sonya science and mathematics, although, her father still considered it to be an “unusual and unfeminine” area of study. Sonya flourished, but soon reached the extent of what her tutor could teach her. When Sonya began to hint at her desire to go abroad to study her father drew the line and refused to even consider it.

It was after this, during a winter in St. Petersburg, that the girls began their plotting. The girls first approached a young man of the aristocracy with their proposal. He was a young professor at the university and surely would understand. He politely refused, but was sympathetic to their cause and didn’t expose them. This rejection didn’t stifle the girls’ enthusiasm for the idea. There don’t seem to be any romantic ideals attached to the idea. In their minds the proposal was strictly a matter of practicality and therefore the girls didn’t take the rejection personally.

While in their village Palibino, they had made the acquaintance of a young student. The son of the vicar, Vladimir Kovalevsky was a serious young man who studied archeology and geology at the university and wanted to continue his studies in Germany. He had a disagreement with his father over a number of things, including his involvement with the young people in the new movement in St. Petersburg. Because of this, he had moved out of his home, and into a small rented room in the city. In discussing their circle of friends, they decided that Vladimir might be a likely candidate for their plan.

There were many opportunities for the young people to socialize under supervision, so the girls were able to get to know Vladimir. They decided that he would be perfect for their marriage scheme. The three of them approached him at a casual gathering in a friend’s house. To their surprise, he agreed, with one change in the plan. He wanted to marry Sonya.

Although Sonya had often felt unloved, all indications are that the Krukovsky parents loved their children though they may have been somewhat removed. They had been persuaded to allow Anna to write for publication and Sonya to study “unfeminine” subjects, but they were in many ways very conventional. Vladimir was young, but of good birth with a promising career ahead of him, so he would probably have been accepted as a match for Anna. She was 23 at the time, an age where she was a little old to be unmarried. However, Sonya was only 17 and of course the expectation was that the older daughter should be married first. Their father flatly refused to consider the match.

The girls were so determined that Sonya decided to force her father’s hand. One evening when the household was busy preparing for a dinner party and both of the girl’s parents had gone out in the afternoon, Sonya dressed for dinner and slipped out of the house without being seen. She went to Vladimir’s room where he was waiting for her. They waited anxiously for footsteps in the hallway, knowing it wouldn’t take long. Sonya had left a note for her parents. She asked them to forgive her, but to understand that this was what she wanted. She knew that it would be humiliating for them, and that being found alone with Vladimir would require their marriage.

At home, Sonya’s parents had arrived late as expected. When the guests had assembled and the table was set, they noticed that Sonya was missing. Anna told them that she had gone out, and there was a note on her dressing table. After reading the note, their father said nothing, but left the house. When he returned he introduced Sonya’s fiancé to the guests.

The marriage proceeded as planned. The young couple lived in St. Petersburg for six months until Vladimir finished his studies, then moved on to Heidelberg, Germany. Here Sonya was able to study with celebrated mathematicians and scientists of the day. Anna and Inez both eventually joined them. They were able to travel and meet many well-known people, authors as well as scientists.

In her biography of Sonya, Anna Carlotta Leffler describes Sonya as a person who demanded a lot from her close friends and acquaintances. She tended to be jealous of other people and the things in their lives, even of her husband’s work. She says of Sonya that “Her own individuality was far too pronounced to allow her to live in harmony with others.” Sonya threw herself wholeheartedly into new activities such as dancing and horseback riding and gave this same devotion to writing literature and her study of mathematics. This devotion allowed her to become the first woman to be a member of the Russian Academy of Science and the first European woman to become a full professor at a university. This appointment was privately funded at the University of Sweden in 1884.

Although it began as a marriage of convenience with separate living arrangements, Sonya and Vladimir developed a close relationship. They would often walk and talk all day. Eventually, Anna moved to Paris and Inez moved on, leaving the couple alone. They shared great intelligence and devotion to their work. Later, they shared great devotion to their daughter, Foufi. Unfortunately, their life together was short. Vladimir died, Foufi was left with friends in St. Petersburg, and Sonya was alone. She would spend most of the rest of her life this way. To her friends, she seemed to always be searching for something. Perhaps for the acceptance and love that she didn’t feel as a child, and didn’t find in a marriage of convenience.

Resources
Sonya Kovalevsky; a biography, and Sisters Rajevsky; being an account of her life by Sonya Kovalevsky by Anna Carlotta Leffler
Women in Mathematics by Lynn Osen
Notable Women in Mathematics edited by Charlene Morrow and Teri Perl

Anne Hutchinson – Running Afoul of the State Church

Anne Hutchinson on Trial by Edwin Austin Abbey (source)

The “separation of church and state” has been a continuing issue in our American history. Most often it comes up with regard to our public schools. Over the years, these issues have ended up in the courts, with things being decided in the favor of keeping religion out of the schools, but the issues never really go away. Still prayers are said before football games, at graduations, and even as late as 2004 the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania tried to introduce Creationism into the high school biology classroom in the form of Intelligent Design.

I’m not surprised that the effort continues. The United States is one of the most religious nations on earth with hundreds of different religions and Christian denominations. What does surprise me, however, is that the effort is usually led by evangelical Christians. The reason this surprises me is that evangelical Christians were in large part the driving force behind the First Amendment clause being written into the Constitution.

We don’t have a state religion in the United States, but that wasn’t always the case. During colonial America, many colonies did have official religions that were supported by the state and tax money. In the north, the Congregationalist church (formerly the Puritans) was the official church of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, in the south, the Anglican Church was the official church of Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. There certainly were states without an official religion, most notably Rhode Island which was established on the principle of freedom of religion. But in many of these colonies, evangelicals found themselves at odds with the established churches. One person who is of particular importance to the idea of “separation of church and state” is Jeremiah Moore. Taking up the cause of Moore and many other Baptist preachers who had been arrested for preaching without a license in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson would introduce a bill into the legislature that would eventually be passed and sever the tie between the Anglican Church and the state of Virginia. He would then go on, with others, to insist on the addition of a clause in the Constitution that ensured freedom of religion.

Evangelicalism is characterized by the belief that you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Although Evangelicalism didn’t really begin as a movement until the 1730s, the idea that you could have this communion with God through the Holy Spirit did exist. One woman who believed and taught this idea is Anne Hutchinson.

Marshalsea prison where Anne's father spent 2 years after being convicted of heresy (source) — Marshalsea prison where Anne’s father spent 2 years after being convicted of heresy (source)

Anne Hutchinson, born Anne Marbury in 1591, was the daughter of an Anglican minister in England. Her father had strong Puritan leanings and was censured by the church on more than one occasion. He spent time in prison for his preaching and for a time was under house arrest. He was a strong believer in education and in a time that it was unusual for women to be educated, he taught both his boys and his girls. At the age of 21, not long after her father’s death, Anne married William Hutchinson. Together they began to follow the teachings of John Cotton and John Wheelwright. These two ministers preached similar messages emphasizing grace and a “moment of conversion”, and deemphasizing a salvation based on works.

By 1633, Cotton’s message, which didn’t strictly adhere to the Anglican Church doctrines, was attracting attention from the church and he found it necessary to flee to America. After a time, Anne felt the Spirit leading her to follow Cotton to Massachusetts and she and William, with their 11 children, sailed for Boston in 1634. They flourished in Boston. William was successful in trade, and Anne found a place in the community helping others and attending childbirths where women often congregated. At some point, she began to share with these women the message she had learned from Cotton and Wheelwright.

Men would often congregate to discuss recent sermons and theology, but there were no such meetings for women. As more and more women became interested in what Anne had to say, she began to have meetings for them in her home. This eventually led to meetings twice a week attended by as many as 80 people. They would review the sermon, discuss it’s meaning, and often disagree with it. Anne began to espouse her own teachings. Principle among them was the “covenant of grace” as opposed to the “covenant of works.” She emphasized “an intuition of the Spirit” or “a personal revelation” as the true evidence of a person’s salvation rather than their good behavior.

In 1636, it became clear to officials in Boston, that many people were developing opinions that weren’t considered orthodox within the church. The fault for this was laid at the feet of Cotton, Hutchinson, and Wheelwright (who had recently arrived from England.) A number of meetings were held, particularly with Cotton, to try to sort out what his specific teachings were and where they differed from the official church doctrine. (This controversy still exists today between different denominations, with some emphasizing that works have nothing to do with the state of your salvation, and others emphasizing that your faith is not assured unless there is evidence of the fruit of good works.) By late 1636, things came to a head and Hutchinson and her followers were accused of heresy.

Anne was accused of antinomianism and familism. Antinomianism literally means “against the law” and Familism was a sect that emphasized a feeling of divine love. Both of these ideas were considered to be dangerous for fear that they could lead to immoral behavior. Neither accusation is really accurate. While Anne believed that she and others like her, received salvation purely by the grace of God and that this could be experienced and felt by the believer, thereby providing “proof” to the individual, they were not immoral people. By all accounts, Anne was highly respected in the community and very active in helping people, in spite of having a large family of her own.

John Winthrop, Anne's accuser and judge (source) — John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts, presided over Anne’s trial (source)

By 1637 when Anne came to trial, her primary accuser John Winthrop had become governor of Massachusetts. He feared that if the people in the colony did not remain “pure” that God would not protect them. It was a difficult life for the settlers. Just before Anne’s trial, the settlers had engaged in a war with the Pequot Indians. Many Puritans believed that Indian attacks, poor crops, natural disasters, or any misfortune was God’s judgment for sin. Another aspect of this trial was that Anne had risen to a place in the community that Winthrop did not deem “fitting to her sex.” Men had begun to attend Anne’s meetings. In fact, one of her admirers was the previous governor of the colony, Sir Henry Vane. It was not considered proper for a woman to teach men. Cotton, in an attempt to distance himself from Anne, even accused her of promoting licentious behavior by having men and women together in her home for these meetings. The entire situation was filled with politics, fear of judgment, and probably no small amount of misogyny.

On the first day of the trial, Anne met their arguments point for point, probably frustrating them greatly. However, on the second day, Anne gave them her message. She told them that she was assured of her salvation because of a “personal revelation.” The court deemed her a heretic and sentenced her to banishment from Massachusetts. She remained under house arrest throughout the winter in the home of Joseph Weld in Roxbury. It was a severe winter in which she was separated from her family.

In the spring, a church trial was held, in which Anne was excommunicated. During the winter, William and some other men made plans to leave Massachusetts. Twenty-three men would ultimately sign what became known as the Portsmouth Compact. They purchased Aquiddeck Island from the Narragansetts and formed a new settlement. This was near Providence Plantations which had been established by Roger Williams with specific provisions for freedom of religion.

At some point after the death of William in 1641, Anne and some of her family moved to a place in eastern New York. Here she and all but one of her children and other family members were massacred by the Indians. She had had good relationships with the Narragansett Indians in Portsmouth and may not have realized how tense the relationships were in her new home. Her daughter Susanna was away from the house and by some accounts was captured and held for several years before being ransomed to her remaining family in Boston.

As with many historical figures Anne’s life is viewed through many lenses. She is seen as a heretic, a libertine, and a feminist, or as a woman who simply followed the dictates of her conscience. She definitely stepped out of the generally accepted role of women in Puritan society. Ultimately, she was a victim of both secular and church politics, but she was also a woman who insisted on her religious liberty.

Resources
Life of Anne Hutchinson: With a Sketch of the Antinomian Controversy in Massachusetts by George E. Ellis
God In America – PBS special

Hypatia – A Martyr for the Truth

This was inspired by the life of Hypatia, who lived in the 4^th and 5^th centuries C.E. She was a real person and brilliant mathematician. Often she is the only woman mathematician mentioned in books on the history of math. The character writing is fictitious, but the events are true.

A Day in Alexandria

I arrived in Alexandria as the sun was going down. The trip from Cyrene had been a rough one and I was glad to have my feet on solid ground again. My teacher and mentor, Synesius, had corresponded with her for years. He raved about her brilliance, her inventions, her ability to teach others, and her original mathematical work. Hypatia! Finally, I would hear for myself. Little did I know what horrors I would witness and how the world would change from this year on.

This was my first trip to the great city of Alexandria. I planned to be here for a while to take advantage of the magnificent library (at least what was left of it) and many great teachers. I would eventually find a place to stay, but for now, I had a letter of introduction to a friend of my mentor. He very kindly invited me into his home and gave me a meal and place to sleep for the night. The political climate is very tense these days. It is the year 415 (A.D.) and the Christians are gaining strength in many places. They have very little tolerance for beliefs different from theirs. Cyril, the church patriarch, considers anyone of the neo-Platonic school of thought to be a heretic. But, there are still many of us who are members of this school, including Hypatia.

As we sat down to a simple meal, or rather reclined in the Greek fashion, my host began to tell me a little more about the city and Hypatia.

“You know her!”, I cried.

“Actually, I’m a friend of the family. More her father’s friend.” He replied.

“Please tell me. Are all the stories I hear of her true?”

He laughed, “Actually, many of them are, but what in particular are you interested in knowing?”

“They say she inspires great devotion in her students and anyone interested in learning.”

“She does. She’s a magnificent orator, devoted to teaching, and to the truth. I make sure that I hear her often and read most of what she writes. She has done quite a bit of original work in mathematics, written commentaries and built on the works of some of the greats – Diophantes, Apollonius, among others. ”

“And she is a scientist as well,” I added. “My mentor, Synesius, has been particularly interested in her inventions, such as the astrolabe and the planesphere for studying astronomy.”

“I know nothing of that field, but am told that she has a number of inventions that have added to it. I am more familiar with her writings in mathematics, although, she is very learned in many fields. Her father, Theon, my friend, was determined to produce the ‘perfect human being’ as he says. Many think that he has. Of course, he is a professor of mathematics at the university as well, so he had access to many resources and took charge of her education. I’m sure she picked up the love of mathematical elegance from him, but he didn’t stop there. She learned it all – astronomy, astrology, mathematics, religion. And he didn’t neglect the body. She is accomplished at rowing, swimming, horseback riding . And yes, she is very beautiful as well, even now in her mid 40s. She has also traveled extensively and basically made a name for herself.”

“Did you say she studied religion?”

“Yes, as in ALL religions, rather than one. Theon was particularly concerned that she NOT be caught up in any one religion to the exclusion of new truths. He feels that all dogmatic religions are false. If we can’t be open to new ideas, we have cut ourselves off from the truth. Hypatia has been raised to be very discriminating in her thoughts and acceptance of new ideas. As Theon frequently says, ‘Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.’ . . . It hasn’t made it easy for her in the current climate. She is a close personal friend of Orestes, the prefect. I think that is one reason that her popularity is tolerated. But, ever since 412, when Cyril became patriarch, things have become more and more tense. Sometimes I fear for her and others who are seen as champions of other ways of thought.”

“She must be an amazing person. Is she married?”

“She is very beautiful, but no, she has never married. She has had opportunities, but always says that she ‘is married to the truth.’ But, I think you’re a little young for her,” he teased.

I was embarrassed, but still had to ask. “Do you think I could meet her?”

“Hmm . . . I think she has a gathering at her home tomorrow night. Her students often gather there and anyone is welcome. Right now though, it is getting late, and her lecture is the first of the day tomorrow. I had planned to go with you, but won’t be able to if I can’t get any sleep.”

I was the one who had trouble sleeping that night because of my excitement. I was up with the sun and after a brief meal, we set out toward the university. It was a beautiful day as we walked along the bay. The sun was bright and the colors were vivid. It was a perfect complement to what I felt inside. We followed the coast for just a short period before we turned to go up to the main thoroughfare that led to the University of Alexandria. As we approached, it became noisier and more crowded as I expected. When we got closer, however, it seemed to be more of a mob than the usual crowds of a city.

“What is happening?” I asked my new friend.

“I’m not sure. This is unusual. I have friends who live here. Let’s go in and see if we can go up to the roof to get a better view.”

We were allowed entrance by one of the slaves who recognized my host and told us that the master was already on the roof observing. As we joined him, I could see that the street was crowded by an angry mob. In the center of the mob was a woman in her chariot. The crowd had brought the horse to a stop and was attacking the woman, hitting her, grabbing her hair, and throwing stones. I could already see where a clump of her hair had been pulled out. She was fighting back, but it was useless against so many. Someone yelled above the crowd, “to the church, to the altar.” At that point, strong hands grasped the woman and she was carried into the nearby Christian church.

“The poor woman, what can we do? Do you know who she is?”

“That,” whispered my host, “is Hypatia. . . I doubt we can do anything against that mob to help her, but we can try. I know a back way into the church.”

As we raced to the door, fear seized my heart for this woman I had never met, but heard so much about. The mob of people, mostly men, were obvious as Christians by the way that they dressed. I understood that they didn’t favor her teachings, but this anger seemed extreme.

We were unable to get through the door until it was too late. When we did, the extent of their depravity was overwhelming. The mob, whom I later learned was a group of monks from a monastery in the desert, had stripped her and peeled away her skin with bits of tile and pottery. Her limbs had been torn from her body. Her voice was silenced.

I couldn’t stay in Alexandria after that. It wasn’t really safe for a non-Christian foreigner, and besides, I didn’t have the heart for it. I heard rumors later about what had happened. Some said that Hypatia’s limbs were put on display in different parts of the city; some said her body was burned. Orestes fled and Cyril finally had what he wanted – power. I went to Athens to continue study, but everywhere things were changing.

Note: Although partially destroyed in 391 C. E. the library in Alexandria would be completely destroyed a few years after Hypatia’s death and the western world would be plunged into a period that has come to be known as the dark ages.

Carl Sagan speaks about Alexandria and Hypatia:

References

Hubbard, Elbert. Little journeys to the Homes of Great Teachers. Vol.23. New York. The Roycrofters. 1808.

Mlodinow, Leonard. Euclid’s Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace. New York. Simon and Schuster. 2001.

Osen, Lynn. Women in Mathematics. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press. 1974.

Women gaining in STEM

I intended this to be a blog about women in history, as in not currently living, but I’ve already added a book review about a women currently fighting for human rights in Afghanistan and I can’t resist posting the link below about the gains women are making in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

I studied math in college, both undergraduate (in the 70s) and graduate (in the mid 80s.) I remember how few women were in my classes. As a freshman and sophomore there were more, but as those who planned to teach moved on to education classes, there were fewer of us in the more technical classes. (I never really planned to teach high school math, it ended up being a fall back job for me about 20 years later.) When I got to graduate school I studied Applied Math which basically means I was in class with a lot of future engineers. It wasn’t unusual to be one of 4 or 5 women in a class full of men. Oddly enough, we didn’t usually hang out and study together. I guess we just worked on our “boy social dynamics” as Rebecca Allred says in the article. I feel very fortunate that I didn’t really run into any problems. I always had a few classmates to study with which was all I wanted.

Women have made great strides in fields that have traditionally belonged to men. I never really felt as though I had something to prove in those days, but I know many women did. From reading this article it seems as though maybe we really are moving into a time when women can just study and do what they like and are good at without thinking twice about whether it is a man’s field or not. Which is as it should be. Check out the article here.

Women making slow, sure strides in science, math

Malalai Joya – Courage in Afghanistan

A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice by Malalai Joya

Occasionally I’ll post book reviews from Goodreads when they are about women who I think are worth noting. Malalai Joya certainly falls in that category.

First off let me say, there have been 2 versions of this book released. I just bought it for my Kindle last week, so I have the latest edition. I did not find the writing as objectionable as some reviewers have. I’m sure as in most books there are areas where it could be improved, but it was not a distraction to me at all.

There are many extraordinary men and women in this world and this book is the story of one of them. Although Malalai Joya is a young woman, she has an important story to tell. Born into war-torn Afghanistan, she was fortunate to have a father who was educated and wanted his children to be educated as well – an estimated 80% of Afghan women are illiterate. Her father also instilled in her a love of democracy.

Malalai Joya is not her real name, but it is the name she goes by in most areas of her life in order to protect her family. Born in 1978, she has never known a time when her country was not at war. In A Woman Among Warlords, Joya describes her life in rural Afghanistan, refugee camps in both Iran and Pakistan, teaching in underground schools for girls, and finally being elected to the new Parliament only to be ejected for speaking out. Her life is constantly in danger, and although she has traveled outside of Afghanistan to speak and carry her message, she won’t consider staying out of the country. Love for the real Afghanistan, the people, comes through on every page.

The book gives a brief history of Afghanistan to fill in background for the current struggle. She speaks knowledgeably about the roles other governments have played in this history and credits the research team who helped her gather this information. I have read several other books about Afghanistan and the facts are consistent with what I’ve read.

Although the book carries a message of hope, it is not a feel good book. She conveys a picture of the horrors that the Afghan people have had to endure and is critical of the people who have brought it about. This includes both Afghans such as the warlords and the president Hamid Karzai, but also the former Soviet Union and the current US/NATO occupation. However, just as she is able to distinguish between the Afghan government and the people of Afghanistan, she distinguishes between the people of western countries and their governments. Joya is thankful for being able to carry her message to Europe and the US, and for the help she has received from some western organizations.

The message could sound hopeless, but she doesn’t see it that way. In the last chapter Joya gives suggestions to people who want to help. As an American, I have often wondered how we could leave Afghanistan with so many problems, many of which we caused, knowing that there are so many warring factions. Joya is insistent that, if democracy is to be attained in Afghanistan, it will be because the people secure it for themselves. The message I get from this book is that yes they would like our help, but from a distance.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi – 18th century mathematician

Maria Gaetana Agnesi, artist unknown (source)

“How long will I have to do this?” must have been the thought that frequently ran through the mind of Maria Agnesi as she stood in her parlor on Friday nights. Maria Gaetana Agnesi was the oldest of 21 children born into the family of Pietro Angesi. The Agnesi family was a well to do family in Milan, Italy in the 18^th century. Pietro came from a merchant class family who had made their money in cloth goods. The family owned many properties and had furnished them exquisitely.

Pietro’s grandfather, father, and uncle had built the business into a sort of empire. For some unknown reason, Pietro was never trusted with the business. Even when his father died, provision was made in his will that prevented him from making any decisions concerning the business without the approval of his uncle. However, when his uncle died childless, the responsibility for the business fell entirely onto Pietro’s shoulders.

Pietro was a very ambitious man. He had almost everything that he could want, materially. The one thing he didn’t have was a position in the aristocracy. He tried many things to be recognized as a member of this class which eventually ran up a huge debt. One of these things was hosting “conversazione” on Friday nights. There were many such events held around the city for the wealthy to indulge themselves. Some were for music and dancing, some for gambling, but at the Agnesi household discussions of philosophy were held. These events served their purpose and attracted many distinguished persons to the Agnesi home such as Monsieur Charles Brosses, president of the parliament of Burgundy and Frederick Christian, heir to the throne of Poland.

One thing Pietro never scrimped on, even when he was accumulating debt, was his children’s education. He hired the best tutors from around Europe for both the boys and the girls. This was during a time when women across Europe were rarely educated. Genius was, however, recognized and Maria Gaetana was that – a child prodigy. By the age of 11, she could speak, read, and write Italian, French, German, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. At the age of 9, she translated a treatise written in Italian into Latin, memorized it, and delivered the oration at one of her father’s “conversations”. The treatise was on the education of women, arguing that they should be allowed access to “the fine arts and sublime sciences”.

She and her sister were regularly put on display in the salon of their family home. Here her father entertained many wealthy and noble men. Maria Gaetana was asked questions by the participants and she would expound on the subject. She was adept at discussing philosophy as well as the sciences and mathematics. She was brilliant, and the men who attended were amazed that she could discuss the philosophy of Descartes as easily as celestial mechanics or the theory of gravitation. Her sister, Maria Teresa, was a composer. She would play the harpsichord and sing, sometimes accompanied by Maria Gaetana on the viola.

Maria Gaetana (1718 – 1799) was basically shy and reserved person. She didn’t enjoy being put on display, but was obedient to her father’s wishes. A devout Catholic, at one point during her teens, she approached him to ask if she could be excused from further events. She wanted to enter the cloister. Her father refused to allow this and she continued participating. Maria Gaetana never married and most of her time was spent teaching the younger children and after her mother (Anna Brivio) died in 1732, managing the household. What time she could spare, she gave in helping ill and homeless people, primarily women.

First page of "Analitical Institutions", 1748 (source) — First page of “Analytical Institutions”, 1748 (source)

As she got older, one of Maria Gaetana’s responsibilities was to tutor her younger brothers in mathematics. She had a passion for scholarship including mathematics and had absorbed works by Newton, Fermat, and Descartes among others. She found all of the texts available to be inadequate for the task of teaching her younger siblings. For this reason she decided to write her own. Originally, it was intended to be used only for their lessons but 10 years after she began it, Analytical Institutions was published to wide acclaim. It was a comprehensive look at mathematical analysis at the time, from algebra through differential and integral calculus, infinite series, and differential equations. She managed to synthesize work from many of the masters including Newton and Leibnitz to write a text that made these topics accessible to the lay person.

Maria had previously published Propositiones Philosophicae a volume of about 200 essays on various topics presented at her father’s conversations. But she is primarily known for Analytical Institutions. It is the earliest surviving math text written by a woman and was translated into English and French for use as a textbook. She was honored by such people as Pope Benedict XIV with a gold medal and Empress Maria Theresa with jewels. She was also elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences. This position included a faculty post. There is some disagreement as to whether or not she ever taught there.

Whether or not Maria Gaetana taught outside the home, this would have ended when her father died in 1752. He had left the family in tremendous debt and most of their possessions had to be sold to cover it. This changed Maria’s lifestyle and set her free to pursue her passion. Until her death in 1799, Maria Gaetana gave selflessly to others. She worked with the ill and homeless people of Milan with both her time and what resources she had left.

The "Witch of Agnesi" curve (source) — The “Witch of Agnesi” curve (source)

Maria Gaetana Agnesi is most well known for a curve that she worked with called the “Witch of Agnesi.” Known for, that is, outside of Italy. In Italy she is known as a great humanitarian and woman of God. She was buried in a common grave with 15 other women and her childhood home was destroyed during WWII. But the city of Milan is proud of their daughter and there are monuments that have been erected to celebrate her life.

Bust of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, beneath the arcades of the courtyard of the Palace of Brera at Milan. Photographer: Giovanni Dall'Orto (source) — Bust of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, beneath the arcades of the courtyard of the Palace of Brera at Milan. Photographer: Giovanni Dall’Orto (source)

References
The World of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Mathematician of God
by Massimo Mazzotti
Women in Mathematics by Lynn Osen

Read about other Famous Women Mathematicians and Scientists