Marie-Sophie Germain (1776-1831) was one of the first French mathematicians. She is known for her work on number theory, on the elasticity of bodies, and for her exchanges with the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Anthony Augustus the White
It is, it seems, reading a book on Archimedes which is at origin of Sophie Germain's passion for mathematics when she was 13 years old. She then began to study mathematics on her own while her father, Ambroise-François Germain, tried to prevent her, for fear that she would head for a "masculine" career. In the face of her determination, however, he ends up supporting her.
Pretending to be a former student named Antoine Auguste le Blanc, Sophie obtains lessons from the Ecole polytechnique, reserved for men, and sends her remarks to the mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, who will become her mentor.
Sophie Germain's theorem
In the field of number theory, Sophie demonstrates a theorem that still bears her name, Sophie Germain's theorem. Still under the name of Antoine Auguste le Blanc, Sophie contacted the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss with whom she maintained a correspondence.
Sophie Germain presented herself in 1811 for the entrance examination for the Académie des sciences, which she failed twice before succeeding in 1816. Thanks to a mathematician friend, she became the first woman to be able to attend the sessions of the Institut de France, without be the wife of one of the members. However, her work suffered from the mentalities of the time, which believed that women could not be competent in science.
Sophie Germain died of breast cancer in 1831. She bequeaths contributions on number theory and on elastic deformations, as well as proof of women's skills in science.