MATHEMATICIAN

Sophie Germain

1776 - 1831

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Marie-Sophie Germain (French: [maʁi sɔfi ʒɛʁmɛ̃]; 1 April 1776 – 27 June 1831) was a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. Despite initial opposition from her parents and difficulties presented by society, she gained education from books in her father's library, including ones by Euler, and from correspondence with famous mathematicians such as Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss (under the pseudonym of Monsieur Le Blanc). One of the pioneers of elasticity theory, she won the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her essay on the subject. Her work on Fermat's Last Theorem provided a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Sophie Germain is the 55th most popular mathematician (down from 51st in 2019), the 347th most popular biography from France (down from 334th in 2019) and the 13th most popular French Mathematician.

Sophie Germain is most famous for her work in number theory. She is the first woman to be awarded a prize from the French Academy of Sciences and the first woman to be elected to the French Academy of Sciences.

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Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, Sophie Germain ranks 55 out of 1,004. Before her are Emmy Noether, George Boole, Abraham de Moivre, Archytas, August Ferdinand Möbius, and Josef Stefan. After her are Friedrich Bessel, Charles Sanders Peirce, Philolaus, Karl Weierstrass, Sofia Kovalevskaya, and Marin Mersenne.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1776, Sophie Germain ranks 4. Before her are Amedeo Avogadro, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and Johann Friedrich Herbart. After her are John Constable, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Caroline of Baden, Ioannis Kapodistrias, Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary, Şehzade Abdullah, Johann Wilhelm Ritter, and Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Among people deceased in 1831, Sophie Germain ranks 5. Before her are Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Carl von Clausewitz, James Monroe, and Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot. After her are Napoléon Louis Bonaparte, Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Archduke Rudolf of Austria, Ioannis Kapodistrias, Emilia Plater, Achim von Arnim, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

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In France

Among people born in France, Sophie Germain ranks 347 out of 6,770. Before her are Pope Stephen IX (1020), Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786), Adolphe Thiers (1797), Désirée Clary (1777), Constantine II (316), and Chrétien de Troyes (1135). After her are Olivier Messiaen (1908), Éliphas Lévi (1810), Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (1275), J. M. G. Le Clézio (1940), William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825), and Elisabeth of Valois (1545).

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In France

Among mathematicians born in France, Sophie Germain ranks 13. Before her are Évariste Galois (1811), François Viète (1540), Pope Sylvester II (938), Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789), Urbain Le Verrier (1811), and Abraham de Moivre (1667). After her are Marin Mersenne (1588), Émilie du Châtelet (1706), Girard Desargues (1591), Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728), Gaspard Monge (1746), and Siméon Denis Poisson (1781).

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