# Sophie Germain

> She taught herself mathematics from her father's library and corresponded with the giants of the field under a male pseudonym because 18th-century Paris wouldn't let a woman through the door. Her work on elastic surfaces won the Paris Academy's grand prize; her theorem on Fermat's Last Theorem shaped the search for centuries.

*French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (1776-1831)*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/sophie-germain

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Academic ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Academics
- **Country:** France
- **Born:** 1776-04-01
- **Died:** 1831-06-27
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** female

## Bio

Marie-Sophie Germain was born in Paris on 1 April 1776, into a world that had no place for women in mathematics. Her parents opposed her studies, but she read Euler in her father's library and began writing to Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss as "Monsieur Le Blanc" — the ruse held until her insights made it irrelevant. She became a pioneer of elasticity theory and won the Paris Academy of Sciences' grand prize for her essay on the subject. Her contributions to Fermat's Last Theorem laid groundwork mathematicians built on for hundreds of years. Gauss recommended an honorary degree before her death from breast cancer on 27 June 1831, but it never came. A century later, Paris named a street and a girls' school in her memory, and the Academy established the Sophie Germain Prize.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 57.5 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: STABLE)
- **Historical depth:** 24.4 / 100
- **Now attention:** 0.0 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 70.0 / 100

## Topics
#Scientists, #Academic, #Mathematics, #Physics, #Philosophy, #France, #Europe, #19th Century

## Sources
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7103)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Sophie%20Germain)
- [صوفى جرمين](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%81%D9%89_%D8%AC%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%86)
- [Sophie Germain](https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [سوفی ژرمن](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%81%DB%8C_%DA%98%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%86)
- [Sofiya Cermen](https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofiya_Cermen)
- [Sophie Germain](https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Софи Жермен](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B8_%D0%96%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD)
- [Sophie Germain](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germainová](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germainov%C3%A1)
- [Sophie Germain](https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Σοφί Ζερμαίν](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A3%CE%BF%CF%86%CE%AF_%CE%96%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%BD)
- [Sophie Germain](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://ext.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [سوفی ژرمن](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%81%DB%8C_%DA%98%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%86)
- [Sophie Germain](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Sophie Germain](https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [סופי ז'רמן](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%99_%D7%96'%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%9F)
- [Sophie Germain](https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Wikiquote](https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marie-Sophie_Germainov%C3%A1)
- [Wikiquote](https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Wikiquote](https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)
- [Wikiquote](https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain)

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