Sophie Germain

Marie-Sophie Germain was a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. Despite initial opposition from her parents and difficulties presented by society, she gained education from books in her father's library, including ones by Euler, and from correspondence with famous mathematicians such as Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss. One of the pioneers of elasticity theory, she won the grand prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her essay on the subject. Her work on Fermat's Last Theorem provided a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after. Because of prejudice against her sex, she was unable to make a career out of mathematics, but she worked independently throughout her life. Before her death, Gauss had recommended that she be awarded an honorary degree, but that never occurred. On 27 June 1831, she died from breast cancer. At the centenary of her life, a street and a girls' school were named after her. The Academy of Sciences established the Sophie Germain Prize in her honour.

1 April 1776

Born on the same birth day (1 April): Ali MacGraw • Bijou Phillips • Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans • D. Boon • Dafydd Wigley • David Gilliland • Edward Clark (governor) • Edwin Austin Abbey • Hugo Ibarra • Pieter Hellendaal • Shivakumara Swami • Stanislaus Zbyszko • Tarun Gogoi • William James Sidis

Born in the same month (April 1776): Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh