Emilie du Châtelet’s True Love was Not Voltaire
Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet, also known as Emilie du Châtelet was born in Paris, France, on December 17, 1706. Her mother was Gabrielle Anne de Froullay, Baronne de Breteul, and her father was Louis Nicolas le Tonnelier de Breteuil, who was the principal secretary to King Louis XIV. The King always found favor with her father because they both had reputations of seeking the company of other women.
Her early education is speculative. What can be known about it comes from resources that describe what education would be like for a young girl of high status. She possibly studied alongside her younger brother, who was educated at home.[1] Her father would hire tutors for her. By age twelve, she was receiving an education in literature, math, and science. Du Châtelet was fluent in German, Greek, Italian, and Latin. An inventory of her father’s books shows writings by poets Jean de la Fontaine and Paul Scarron, as well as Euclid and René Descartes. Further inventory of her father’s property shows that she had access to billiards, cards, board games, fencing gear, and horses for riding.[2]
