Abstract
Sophie-Marie Germain was born in Paris on 1 April 1776, ten months after Louis XVI was crowned King of France and his wife Marie Antoinette became Queen. That was a time when France was the most powerful country in Europe, and its cultural influence was such that nobles, monarchs, and the educated people in many other countries often spoke elegant French instead of their native languages.
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Notes
- 1.
Stupuy (1896).
- 2.
Name shown in official documents of the National Assembly meetings. See: https://www.persee.fr/authority/722281.
- 3.
An assignat was a monetary instrument used during the French Revolution.
- 4.
Stupuy (1896), p. 3.
- 5.
Stupuy (1896), p. 5.
- 6.
Montucla (1754).
- 7.
Montucla (1756), p. 249.
- 8.
Stupuy (1896), p. 6.
- 9.
The Royal Académie des Sciences was established in Paris in 1666 under the patronage of Louis XIV to advise the French government on scientific matters.
- 10.
The Committee of General Security was created to supervise the rounding up of suspects who were first sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal for sentencing. Committees of Surveillance sprung up to catch “suspects” and “foreigners.” The loi des suspects resulted in thousands of people imprisoned.
- 11.
Copy of Lavoisier’s letter dated 7 September 1793 in Œuvres de Lagrange, Vol. 14, p. 314.
- 12.
Franqueville (1895).
- 13.
This room takes its name from the four female figures sculpted by Jean Goujon in 1550 to support the music gallery. Located on the ground floor of the Louvre’s Pierre Lescot’s 16th-century Renaissance wing. Today it houses Roman copies of Greek originals long since disappeared.
- 14.
Franqueville (1895).
- 15.
The Directory (Directoire) was the government of France during the second-to-last stage of the French Revolution. It operated following the National Convention and preceding the Consulate, from 2 November 1795 until 10 November 1799, a period commonly known as the Directory era. Napoléon brought down this form of government when he made himself emperor.
- 16.
Institut de France. Procès-verbaux. Tome I, p. 46.
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Musielak, D. (2020). Unforgettable Childhood. In: Sophie Germain. Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38375-6_1
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