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[ladyniniane]

"Women could be found working on construction sites, if only occasionally, including in specialized roles such as carpenters and masons. The research is found in the article, “Appropriate to Her Sex?” Women’s Participation on the Construction Site in Medieval and Early Modern Europe,” by Shelley E. Roff.

She surveyed a wide variety of records from throughout Western Europe, including tax records, inventories of wages paid on construction sites, and municipal accounts, and discovered numerous instances of women working alongside men on construction sites as far back at the 13th century. Most of these women were employed as day laborers, carrying out tasks such as moving water and building supplies around the sites, digging ditches and serving as assistants to bricklayers and stonemasons. For example, in the Spanish city of Seville during the 14th century, women were hired to dig trenches for the foundation of a new city wall, while at the nearby city of Toledo, one or two women were hired each day for the construction of the city’s cathedral, where they gathered lime and worked on the roof. Meanwhile in the French city of Toulouse, almost half the laborers working on the Perigord college site were women. Ross also finds several examples from England and Germany.

Roff notes that previous historians have seen many examples of women working on construction sites in their research, but they had believed that these were just abnormal exceptions caused by economic crises, or because the male population had been killed off through war or disease. But her new study suggests that women construction workers were more than just odd occurences. She explains that “the expansion of urban centers starting in the thirteenth century set off a trend of increasing female employment for day laborers and in the crafts, which only began to contract on occasion for women working in the crafts in the sixteenth century with ensuing economic crises.”

She also notes that in almost all accounts surveyed, the women were paid at a lower rate than the men, which would make the “a cost-effective solution” for site supervisors looking for ways to reduce expenses. The women who took these jobs would have come from society’s poor – those women who could not maintain their households and families just from their husbands’ (if they had one) income.

Roff also finds records showing women taking part in specialized building trades. In London in 1383, Katherine Lightfoot is recorded as the supplier of 2,000 painted tiles for bath in the King’s palace. Meanwhile, tax records from Paris during the years 1296 and 1313 reveal the existence of two female masons, a tiler and a plasterer. These women were not poorer individuals, rather they were the wives of male craftsman, and in some cases their widows. The 15th-century French writer Christine de Pizan noted in her book The Treasury of the City of Ladies that craftswomen, “should learn all the shop details so that she can properly supervise the workers when her husband is away or not paying attention.”

Women workers could be found on the medieval construction site, Medievalists.net

[ladyniniane]

All my FE3H OCs: 1/?

❧Gladys Rusla Eilyn - The ambitious lady

Age: 23 (during AM's events)

Height: 170cm

Eyes: blue

Hair: Neck length, red and curly.

"I believe in you and in our hearts we know the truth / And I believe in love and the darker it gets, the more I do / Try and fill us with your hate and we will shine a light /And the days will become endless and never, and never turn to night / And never, and never turn to night"

-100 years, Florence and the machine

The illegitimate daughter of a minor Faerghus noble, Gladys grew up as a common soldier. Her wit and daring allowed her to be recognized and accepted as her father’s heiress. Having been in charge of the home while he was away, she’s well-prepared to face the perils of the war.  Sometimes compared to a fox due to her red hair and freckled skin, Gladys is resourceful and adaptable. Playing strategy games and solving riddles is part of her pastimes. Friendly and warm, she knows exactly how to put people at ease and laughs easily. A free spirit, she likes being outside and loves playing polo. A skilled horsewoman, she excels at archery and swordfighting.  Gladys has great ambitions, both for her lands and herself. Concerned with the commoner’s well-being, she cares for her soldiers and their families. Having a calculative side, she plans everything carefully. She still has an incomplete view of some issues and tends to hold grudges. She's also burdened by some difficult decisions she took to survive.  Now head of the household after her father’s death, Gladys must ride with Rodrigue to bring reinforcements to Dimitri and is determined to go back home alive. She can count on her mother, Amalia, and her friends Maeve and Vigdis who fight alongside her.   After the battle of Gronder, Gladys meets Dimitri and helps him during a difficult episode where he hallucinates his dead relatives. Her support and cheerful nature will earn her the king’s support…and love. 

You can read her story here!

[ladyniniane]

Erkki Koponen (Finnish, 1899-1996)

Feeling Overwhelmed, 1924

[ladyniniane]

ROUND 5 MATCH 6

Claude propaganda:

"To say Claude has trust issues is an understatement—you have to spend half the game earning his. (Claude isn't even his real name!) Once you have it, though, he's absolutely ride or die for you until the stars go out. He is so full of heart and ambition: He wants both sides of his heritage to get along, he wants to open borders and eliminate xenophobia and promote equality between commonfolk, and deep down, I think he craves a partner to stand with him at that new dawn, or an equal who sees his vision for the future and will fight for it just as hard. Nobody believed in him when he was a kid, but if you put your faith in him, he'll return it tenfold. Some people don't like that he's calculating, or has to leave the player character at the end of the game to go back to his homeland, but both are necessary elements for his goals to change things. He will always come back, and everyone who bets against him and his love for his companions is wrong with a big fat W. #KhalidForMostDatablePrez"

"Claude is a fun little onion of facades. He calls himself the embodiment of distrust, he acts like he's carefree and without worries, an unscrupulous schemer--and so many in universe buy into that hook line and sinker. He's used to others viewing him with suspicion and uses it as armor to obscure his not-so-dark truth: that he cares immensely, that he values minimizing the loss of life, and that above all he has so much hope that people will fundamentally choose to do better given the choice.

His front guards a center that his conflict filled world would be happy to tear apart. As the child of people from two nations in constant conflict--one of which is explicitly isolationist and dehumanizes those outside its church's reach--he hasn't really had a place where he can be without his facade. As a child he thought he could run, but when confronted with the fact that this hatred existed no matter where he ran, he chose to instead try to create a more just and kind world.

His inability to let others in beyond his facade at first may lead to a sense of distance, but isn't it then all the more satisfying when you're allowed in? All he wants is a little trust, a little faith, and--like what he wants to give everyone--a chance to be better.

And like that you got a charming young lad with a fun personality that your grandma would be thrilled to have stay forever."

Josephine propaganda:

“you get to have a full Disney princess style romance with her, she is the most precious, the most sweet, I love her so much 🥺”

“Josephine's one of the "behind the scenes" companion for the protagonist and she advises them on diplomacy-related matters.

Her personal quest and romance is fairy-tale worthy: she gets threatened with assassination, you help her restore her family's fortune, you get threatened by her best friend to not break her heart, she doesn't dare to hope you mean anything serious when flirting until you spell it out for her, after which Josie agrees to a deeper relationship... And immediately after that she finds out her family has engaged her to a random noble without her knowledge!! You publicly challenge the suitor to a one-on-one duel to win her hand, she finds out and interrupts the duel because she's worried of the Inquisitor throwing literally the entire plot away and risk life in combat for her... To which of course you can confess that they're doing it because they love Josephine, and they get the cutest cutscene with Josie jumping in the Inquisitor's arms and them spinning her around before kissing each other <3 The betrothed steps away because he sees true love between the two. She and the Inquisitor stay together through the end game and after it, gaining a "second home" with her and her family.

She really believes in the Inquisitor's cause and from the very first conversations with her, she asks questions about your background and tries to make you feel welcomed (especially appreciated if the Inquisitor isn't human since people are less trusting of them). She's politically smart but dislikes violence, overall very sweet but still strong... Josie tends to overwork herself (she's a perfectionist) and at first she tries to keep a professional air at all times but if you encourage her, she will rant to you and spill all the tea about nobles lol.”

[ladyniniane]

So, there's a dirty little secret in indie publishing a lot of people won't tell you, and if you aren't aware of it, self-publishing feels even scarier than it actually is.

There's a subset of self-published indie authors who write a ludicrous number of books a year, we're talking double digit releases of full novels, and these folks make a lot of money telling you how you can do the same thing. A lot of them feature in breathless puff pieces about how "competitive" self-publishing is as an industry now.

A lot of these authors aren't being completely honest with you, though. They'll give you secrets for time management and plotting and outlining and marketing and what have you. But the way they're able to write, edit, and publish 10+ books a year, by and large, is that they're hiring ghostwriters.

They're using upwork or fiverr to find people to outline, draft, edit, and market their books. Most of them, presumably, do write some of their own stuff! But many "prolific" indie writers are absolutely using ghostwriters to speed up their process, get higher Amazon best-seller ratings, and, bluntly, make more money faster.

When you see some godawful puff piece floating around about how some indie writer is thinking about having to start using AI to "stay competitive in self-publishing", the part the journalist isn't telling you is that the 'indie writer' in question is planning to use AI instead of paying some guy on Upwork to do the drafting.

If you are writing your books the old fashioned way and are trying to build a readerbase who cares about your work, you don't need to use AI to 'stay competitive', because you're not competing with these people. You're playing an entirely different game.

[ladyniniane]

La bête aux pieds d'argile

Et pour une fois, je ne vais pas trop faire de blabla au début, je veux juste vous montrer, je vous expliquerait tout après ! Je suis très fière du résultat alors, je veux juste partager au plus vite ! 😃 C'est une idée qu'on a eu en discutant avec @ladyniniane qui faisait remarquer que Delagarde et Hubert ressemblait à la bête de la mer et celle de la terre dans l'Apocalypse alors, voilà le résultat en dessin !

(je sais, c'est en noir et blanc mais, j'aurais peur de le gâcher si je mettais de la couleur qui bavait sur d'autres parties vu que même si c'est du A3, les zones sont assez petites, mon crayon a pas mal travaillé le papier, et j'y ai déjà passé la moitié de ma nuit, plus mon dimanche donc, on va déjà partir comme ça ^^')

Je vais mettre le développement sous la coupe mais, je serais curieuse de connaitre votre interprétation avant de savoir qui est où et ce que veulent dire certaines formes !

Pour commencer, le sujet était "El et Hubert sont les bêtes de l'Apocalypse de la Mer et de la Terre", et je me suis basé sur cette représentation de ses deux créatures pour faire ma version Fodlan de cette histoire.

Delagarde est donc la Bête de la mer qui fait office d'Antéchrist quand l'Apocalypse approche. Elle est donc représenter comme sur l'enluminure, comme une bête avec des couronnes qui se fait adorer alors qu'elle est le mal incarnée mais, comme si l'artiste voulait se moquer d'elle et la représenter dans toute son horreur et la fragilité de son pouvoir.

Je me suis aussi inspiré des représentations de Baphomet vu que comme l'a souvent fait remarqué Fantasy Invader, elle lui ressemble beaucoup et a la même posture que le démon sur son panneau de fin. Alors, je lui ai donné une poitrine, sa couronne qui est censé être les cornes de l'Immaculée sont devenue des cornes de démons, et elle a des ailes mais, contrairement à Baphomet, ce n'est pas les siennes. Ce n'est pas un ange ou une sauveuse mais, elle veut se faire passer pour tel alors, elle veut des ailes d'anges alors, elle s'est clouée et collées des petites ailes dans le dos. ça sert à rien, elle ne pourra jamais voler avec et elle est plus ridicule qu'autre chose avec ces ailes minuscules qui tiennent à peine avec un clou et de la colle qui dégouline, comme elle ne sera jamais une sauveuse pour Fodlan.

D'ailleurs, elle porte aussi la couronne du Royaume et la bannière de l'Alliance sur ses cornes mais, pour la couronne, elle la porte n'importe comment, elle n'est pas sur sa porte mais comme si elle l'avait mise sur un porte-manteau et risque de tomber au moindre mouvement de tête car, elle ne sera jamais la vraie reine légitime du Royaume. Quant à la bannière de l'Alliance, je ne sais pas si ça se voie vraiment à l'image mais, l'écusson sur le tissu est toujours différent car, elle connait tellement mal Fodlan et s'intéresse si peu aux autres pays à part pour les envahir et leur imposer la civilisation adrestienne, qu'elle ne sait même pas à quoi ressemble l'étendard d'un de ses ennemis, surtout que si on suivait sa logique de façade jusqu'au bout du "les crêtes sont le mal et les gens doivent s'élever selon leur propre mérite !", bah Leicester le fait déjà depuis longtemps étant donné que l'ambition et la capacité personnel à s'enrichir est plus importante que les emblèmes, comme on le voie lorsque le margrave Edmund (nouveau noble grâce à ses capacités d'orateur et tout l'argent qu'il a gagné grâce à ses talents) remplace à la table ronde la famille Daphnel (donc famille à emblème mais, en perte de vitesse depuis que la moitié d'entre eux c'est barré dans le Royaume), ce qui montre qu'elle ne connait rien à ses voisins et veut en fait juste plus de pouvoir pour elle seule. De plus, le tissu est toujours attaché à ses cornes gauches car, si elle est assise sur son trône et que la carte de Fodlan est derrière elle, l'Alliance est à sa gauche et le Royaume à sa droite, sans penser que si elle leur fait face depuis Embarr en se tournant vers le nord, elle a inversé les deux pays sur ses cornes.

Elle tient aussi Ayrm avec sa queue, dont le bout est en tire-bouchon comme celle des cochons qui sont associé au poison de l'ignorance dans le bouddhisme (qui est également le poison auquel elle est le plus rattaché si je me souviens également bien des billets de Fantasy Invader) et qui n'est pas forcément l'animal qui a la meilleure réputation étant donné qu'il mange tout ce qui traine, ce qui oblige à bien faire bouillir sa viande si on veut la manger, voir à interdire complètement sa consommation pour des raisons d'hygiène, ce qui est surement à l'origine du fait que plusieurs religions interdisent d'en manger. Delagarde se sert de l'arme que lui ont donné les agarthans pour imposer sa tyrannie (et la lie encore plus au Diable vu que cette arme est liée à l'emblème de la Bête) mais là aussi, elle est pas vraiment en bon état : elle est cassée, certaines dents sont pourries et elle tombe en miette histoire de montrer que malgré toute son horreur, son pouvoir reste fragile vu qu'au moment où Aymr n'est plus brandit ou que les agents d'Hubert ne sont plus opérationnels, elle aura beaucoup plus de mal à imposer ses quatre volontés (tout en permettant de se moquer d'elle au passage vu que sa hache ignoble en forme de bouche qui dévore tout sur son passage, est en fait une grosse hache édentée qui tombe en morceaux et avec des morceaux pourris)

Comme la bête de la mer, Delagarde a plusieurs têtes qui crachent du feu dans tous les sens pour symboliser qu'elle s'attaque à tout ce qui l'entoure mais, aucune ne regarde le sol, personne ne peut la contester sur son territoire alors, elle ne regarde même pas ces sujets qui sont en train de la prier. De plus, j'ai fait en sorte qu'à part quand elle est plus ou moins de face à celui qui regarde le dessin, on ne voie jamais ses yeux avec sa coiffure qui lui bouche la vue comme des oeillères, comme Delagarde se met souvent des oeillères et refusent de voir la réalité en face. Là, elle ne voie que ce qui est devant elle et veut voir : ce que vont consumer ses flammes et tout ce qu'elle va cramer pour obtenir le pouvoir.

Cependant, ça l'empêche aussi de voir que ses pattes sont argiles, fragiles, qui craquèlent de partout et qu'elle est attaquée. Sous son ventre, on a Bernadetta qui est en train de graver l'emblème de Seiros de Rhéa sur son flan avec une de ses flèches afin de souligner son rattachement à la résistance et son soutien à l'Eglise que Delagarde persécute, pendant que Ferdinand est en train de couper une de ses pattes avec une hache, étant également dans la résistance et s'opposant à Delagarde et son impérialisme. Dans mon canon, ils sont même les deux chefs d'un des groupes résistants les plus importants de Fodlan. Enfin, derrière eux et sans que Delagarde ne le remarque, Petra est derrière elle et bande son arc pour décocher une flèche sur une des têtes de la bête, Brigid se battant farouchement pour leur indépendance et refusant de se soumettre (raison pour laquelle, elle est dans sa tenue de civil qui est surement un habit brigilène, même si ça ne se voie pas beaucoup, j'était sur le bout de ma page...)

Ensuite, on a Hubert qui est la bête de la Terre. Dans la légende, cette bête fait des tours pour convaincre les humains les humains que la bête de la mer est le Sauveur, et les faire tomber dans les griffes d'un antéchrist (de mémoire, si j'ai bien compris l'histoire) mais sur le modèle, il ressemble vraiment à un petit chien à sa mémère en fait ^^' Je l'ai alors représenté comme couché devant sa maitresse en se frottant les pattes mais, ses oreilles sont celles d'un chien : une dressé comme celle d'un chien de garde, une aplati sous sa mèche toute douveteuse comme celle d'un Cavalier King Charles pour le côté pelucheux et animal de compagnie de Delagarde. Sa queue est aussi celle d'un chien de chasse courant derrière les ennemis de sa maitresse, le foxhound anglais (et à la réflexion en l'écrivant, ça colle encore mieux vu qu'il courre après Ferdie qui a les cheveux roux). Pour ses cornes, j'ai voulu prendre celle de Grima de FE Awakening en exemple vu qu'il ressemblait vraiment à un être maléfique mais, vu que je l'ai fait de mémoire, je ne me souvenait plus qu'il n'avait pas 3 paires de cornes mais seulement une... enfin, il fait encore plus bêtes maléfiques avec des cornes de diable comme ça.

Il a aussi sa grosse mèche et un sourire carnassier de voir que leur plan se déroule comme sur des roulettes avec les roturiers qui prient El mais, au cas où, il a quand même les griffes de ses pattes arrières qui sont des couteaux, afin de rappeler qu'il assassinera quiconque représentant une menace pour son impératrice qu'il défendra jusqu'au bout, même si lui aussi ne se rend pas compte qu'elle se fait attaquer en douce.

Pour son oeil visible qui est vide, c'était à la base un oubli de ma part, j'ai oublié de dessiner son globe oculaire au brouillon mais, une fois passé à l'encre, je ne l'ai pas rajouté car, je trouvais que ça faisait ressembler son regard à celui des Agarthans comme Thalès ou Solon qui ont les yeux vides, Hubert utilisant les mêmes méthodes et la même magie qu'eux malgré tous les discours d'El "oui mais en fait, on les aime pas car c'est eux qui m'ont expérimenté, même si je les utilise pour le moment car ils sont pratique, MAIS je les tuerais quand j'aurais plus besoin d'eux ! Donc, ça passe ! Je les aide pas à continuer à faire des atrocités !".

Ensuite, pour les personnes face à Delagarde, ce sont des roturiers qui, abreuvés des mensonges d'El et la propagande, se mettent à la vénérer comme leur chef suprême et la nouvelle tête de proue de Fodlan, et même comme une Déesse (ce que Dimitri l'accuse de vouloir devenir dans leur face à face et vue la fin en duo d'Hanneman et Manuela, ça semble être le cas vu que l'église existe toujours après CF mais, tourne autour de l'empereur et de son idéologie), la première d'entre elle étant Dorothéa, à genoux devant elle, la priant et l'idolatrant. C'est elle qui a ce rôle car, c'est celle qui croit le plus à la rhétorique d'El et est sa pompom girl la plus fidèle dans le jeu, tout en étant aussi hypocrite qu'elle (surtout que je la voie bien pouvoir sortir "quand on veut, on peut" vu qu'elle a pu se sortir du caniveau grâce à sa voix et donc, elle pourrait appliquer cette même logique à tout le monde, sans comprendre que ce n'est pas possible que tout le monde devienne une diva à succès pour des milliers de raisons) donc, elle a le rôle de fidèle fanatique au regard vide à part son admiration pour son idole, biberonnée à la propagande qui vénère l'Impératrice comme sa nouvelle Déesse mais, sans se rendre compte qu'elle est un monstre.

D'ailleurs, elle n'a pas de pupille, ce qui rend son regard encore plus vide, et aucun des fidèles de Delagarde n'a d'yeux visibles. Même s'ils ont les cheveux attachés pour certains, ils ont toujours une grosse mèche devant les yeux qui leur bouche les yeux, ce qui permet de faire plus foule et de dire qu'ils ne voient pas qui est Delagarde pour ce qu'elle est vraiment, ont cru aux mensonges et au tour d'Hubert, et ils se mettent à la vénérer comme une Déesse, tous la priant devant elle. ça me permet également de me moquer du fait que si El dit détester la religion, elle pourrait se faire passer pour une Déesse et le Messie, elle le ferait sans hésiter à cause de son complexe du Sauveur. Donc, on donne un grand coup dans ses discours "Religion et Déesse = MECHANT PAS BO !!!" et on l'a fait vénérer par ses sujets.

Par contre, une d'entre eux à des yeux complets, et c'est la seule roturière qui est derrière eux et ne regarde pas Delagarde mais, célèbre plutôt l'arriver des vrais sauveurs. Elle porte d'ailleurs un habit d'évêque du jeu pour la rattacher à l'Eglise (et les vrais auront reconnu Margherita à son collier en forme de coeur [qui apparaitra peut-être un jour à Fodlan si je trouve l'occasion], même si elle n'a pas les cheveux attachés en deux couettes sortant d'une sorte de chignon [elle est inspirée par le design de Miku mais, avec une coiffure à la Sailor Moon], je trouvais que ça ressemblait trop à la coiffure en macaron de Delagarde et que ça ne rendait pas bien alors, elle a les cheveux détachés et libres). C'est la seule à voir El pour ce qu'elle est et à fêter l'arriver de ceux qui vont les sauver de cet Antéchrist et la guerre en Fodlan.

Enfin, tout en haut à droite de l'image, Byleth arrive en tenue de Prophétesse (même si la veste est celle de la version masculine, pas question que je dessine au premier degré Byleth dans la version féminine de cette tenue) et plante l'Epée du Créateur dans une des pattes de Delagarde, toujours pour la rattacher à l'église et pour signifier que le vrai prophète arrive pour chasser l'Antéchrist et pour ramener la paix de Sothis dans Fodlan. Elle porte également le bouclier de Seiros pour rappeler Rhéa et le fait qu'elle travaille ensemble. Enfin, elle est accompagnée et soutenue par un Lion pour Dimitri et Faerghus, un Cerf pour Claude et Leicester, et l'Immaculée pour l'Eglise, afin de montrer que tout Fodlan s'oppose à Delagarde et s'opposera toujours à sa tyrannie ! Je l'ai également dessiné plus grande que toutes les autres pour faire si elle était la Déesse elle-même venue pour arrêter le mal avec les bêtes protectrices du reste du continent, ainsi que souligner son importance dans la scène (et me simplifier la vie car il y a vraiment beaucoup de détail dans la tenue de Prophète - -' )

Et voilà ! Je crois que j'ai fait le tour de tout ce qu'il y avait à dire sur ce dessin ! J'espère qu'il vous plait !

[ladyniniane]

1930s night gown and matching robe

[ladyniniane]

ZHAO LIYING (赵丽颖) as Shen Li

in The Legend of Shen Li (与凤行), 2024

[ladyniniane]

learning that apparently several hundred people have been pronouncing 'miette' as 'mighty' has actively worsened my day

[ladyniniane]

[ladyniniane]

I recommend Renée Vivien (from what I've seen some of her works are available in English).

And also Japanese poets such as Izumi Shikibu!

Trying to get into poetry more so if anyone here has good poetry recs feel free to send them my way!

[ladyniniane]

The Legend of Shen Li 与凤行 (2024) | Episode 17

[ladyniniane]

Mathematician, physician and philosopher (1776-1831), Sophie Germain was a genius who fought hard to be heard a recognized.

A self-taught prodigy 

The daughter of a silk merchant, Sophie was born in Paris to a relatively wealthy family. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, her father became a member of the Constituent Assembly. Amidst the chaos, Sophie found solace in her father's library and discovered mathematics.

Fascinated by the subject, she learned everything she could, studying at night. Her parents disapproved. Mathematics was thought to be too complex for women who had to focus first and foremost on their home.

Sophie's parents tried to stop her by putting out the fire in her room at night and confiscating her clothes and candles after nightfall. Sophie's thirst for knowledge was stronger. According to her obituary, she studied “at night in a room so cold that the ink often froze in its well, working enveloped with covers by the light of a lamp”. She even taught herself Latin to read the essential works.

Sophie impresses

The École Polytechnique was founded in 1974 with to train a new elite of engineers, mathematicians and scientists. Being a woman, Sophie couldn’t attend. She learned that a student named Leblanc wasn’t able to go to class. She wrote to the school, pretending to be him, and managed to obtain lecture notes. She was also able to complete and submit assignments. 

This promising student impressed mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange who found her answers brilliant. The self-taught Sophie had gained the admiration of one of the most renowned mathematicians of her time.

Lagrange's desire to meet her forced Sophie to reveal her real identity. Lagrange was at first surprised to learn that his correspondent was a woman. He nonetheless became Sophie’s mentor, introducing her to a new world and opportunities.

Sophie made major contributions to number theory. She worked on Fermat's last theorem, making major observations and creating her own theorem. This would be one of her major contributions to mathematics.

In 1804, she began a correspondence with another mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose work she admired. He was similarly impressed by her intelligence:

“But how to describe to you my admiration and astonishment at seeing my esteemed correspondent Monsieur Leblanc metamorphose himself into this illustrious personage who gives such a brilliant example of what I would find it difficult to believe. A taste for the abstract sciences in general and above all the mysteries of numbers is excessively rare: one is not astonished at it: the enchanting charms of this sublime science reveal only to those who have the courage to go deeply into it. But when a person of the sex which, according to our customs and prejudices, must encounter infinitely more difficulties than men to familiarize herself with these thorny researches, succeeds nevertheless in surmounting these obstacles and penetrating the most obscure parts of them, then without doubt she must have the noblest courage, quite extraordinary talents and superior genius.”

An incomplete recognition

Sophie was also interested in physics. In 1811, she entered a contest held by the French Academy of Sciences, but her lack of formal education turned against her. She didn't give up and won the contest in 1816 with her Memoir on the vibrations of Elastic Plates. She kept working on the theory of elasticity and published several more memoirs. Her work would prove pivotal in the field.

This prize also meant official recognition for Sophie. In 1823, she became the first woman to be allowed at the Academy of Sciences' sessions. Though respected as an equal collaborator by some, she still felt like a “foreigner” in the scientific community.

Sophie Germain died at the age of 55, on June 27, 1831, after a battle with breast cancer. Carl Friedrich Gauss had convinced the university of the University of Gottingen to give her an honorary degree but Sophie was dead before she could receive it.

Her death certificate designated her as a "rentière-annuitant" (a single woman with no profession) instead of a mathematician. 

Today, a street in Paris, schools in France and a crater on Venus are named in her honor. She appeared on a French postal stamp released in 2016.

Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you like what I do! Your support would be greatly appreciated.

Further reading 

Alkalay-Houlihan Coleen, “Sophie Germain and special cases of Fermat’s last theorem”

Boyé Anne,, “Sophie Germain, une mathématicienne face aux préjugés de son temps”

“Biographies of women mathematicians : Sophie Germain”

Lamboley Gilbert, “Math’s hidden woman”

Koppe Martin, “Sophie Germain, une pionnière enfin reconnue”

[ladyniniane]

Me: I don't write for validation.

Also me when my story on AO3 gets a kudos:

[ladyniniane]

Mathematician, physician and philosopher (1776-1831), Sophie Germain was a genius who fought hard to be heard a recognized.

A self-taught prodigy 

The daughter of a silk merchant, Sophie was born in Paris to a relatively wealthy family. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, her father became a member of the Constituent Assembly. Amidst the chaos, Sophie found solace in her father's library and discovered mathematics.

Fascinated by the subject, she learned everything she could, studying at night. Her parents disapproved. Mathematics was thought to be too complex for women who had to focus first and foremost on their home.

Sophie's parents tried to stop her by putting out the fire in her room at night and confiscating her clothes and candles after nightfall. Sophie's thirst for knowledge was stronger. According to her obituary, she studied “at night in a room so cold that the ink often froze in its well, working enveloped with covers by the light of a lamp”. She even taught herself Latin to read the essential works.

Sophie impresses

The École Polytechnique was founded in 1974 with to train a new elite of engineers, mathematicians and scientists. Being a woman, Sophie couldn’t attend. She learned that a student named Leblanc wasn’t able to go to class. She wrote to the school, pretending to be him, and managed to obtain lecture notes. She was also able to complete and submit assignments. 

This promising student impressed mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange who found her answers brilliant. The self-taught Sophie had gained the admiration of one of the most renowned mathematicians of her time.

Lagrange's desire to meet her forced Sophie to reveal her real identity. Lagrange was at first surprised to learn that his correspondent was a woman. He nonetheless became Sophie’s mentor, introducing her to a new world and opportunities.

Sophie made major contributions to number theory. She worked on Fermat's last theorem, making major observations and creating her own theorem. This would be one of her major contributions to mathematics.

In 1804, she began a correspondence with another mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose work she admired. He was similarly impressed by her intelligence:

“But how to describe to you my admiration and astonishment at seeing my esteemed correspondent Monsieur Leblanc metamorphose himself into this illustrious personage who gives such a brilliant example of what I would find it difficult to believe. A taste for the abstract sciences in general and above all the mysteries of numbers is excessively rare: one is not astonished at it: the enchanting charms of this sublime science reveal only to those who have the courage to go deeply into it. But when a person of the sex which, according to our customs and prejudices, must encounter infinitely more difficulties than men to familiarize herself with these thorny researches, succeeds nevertheless in surmounting these obstacles and penetrating the most obscure parts of them, then without doubt she must have the noblest courage, quite extraordinary talents and superior genius.”

An incomplete recognition

Sophie was also interested in physics. In 1811, she entered a contest held by the French Academy of Sciences, but her lack of formal education turned against her. She didn't give up and won the contest in 1816 with her Memoir on the vibrations of Elastic Plates. She kept working on the theory of elasticity and published several more memoirs. Her work would prove pivotal in the field.

This prize also meant official recognition for Sophie. In 1823, she became the first woman to be allowed at the Academy of Sciences' sessions. Though respected as an equal collaborator by some, she still felt like a “foreigner” in the scientific community.

Sophie Germain died at the age of 55, on June 27, 1831, after a battle with breast cancer. Carl Friedrich Gauss had convinced the university of the University of Gottingen to give her an honorary degree but Sophie was dead before she could receive it.

Her death certificate designated her as a "rentière-annuitant" (a single woman with no profession) instead of a mathematician. 

Today, a street in Paris, schools in France and a crater on Venus are named in her honor. She appeared on a French postal stamp released in 2016.

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Further reading 

Alkalay-Houlihan Coleen, “Sophie Germain and special cases of Fermat’s last theorem”

Boyé Anne,, “Sophie Germain, une mathématicienne face aux préjugés de son temps”

“Biographies of women mathematicians : Sophie Germain”

Lamboley Gilbert, “Math’s hidden woman”

Koppe Martin, “Sophie Germain, une pionnière enfin reconnue”

[ladyniniane]

[ladyniniane]

Polish right-wing politician (the one that called women weaker on English TV btw) actually posted something about european economy and added a FrUk fanart to it Im crying