The English-language curator’s tour focuses on the life and work of Émilie du Châtelet

To mark the Women in Science theme week, we invite you to an English-language tour of the exhibition ‘Voltaire: Making History’ on 12 February at 17:00 at the University of Tartu Art Museum. Led by the exhibition curator Sophie Turner, the tour focuses on Émilie du Châtelet—a brilliant scientist and Voltaire’s partner in both love and ideas.

Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749) was a gifted mathematician and physicist who helped Voltaire write the extremely influential Elements of the Philosophy of Newton, which popularised Newton’s work for a European audience. She is most famous for her translation of, and commentary on, Newton’s Principia, but she was also an erudite thinker. One of her most interesting works today is her Epicurean treatise on happiness. Among her achievements, she became a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna—an unheard-of honour for a woman of her time.

The tour ‘The story of Émilie du Châtelet, with passion and reason’ introduces items related to du Châtelet held in Estonian museum collections and explores her contribution to science and the history of ideas, as well as her life and times more broadly. Émilie was an intellectual force of nature, but her letters also reveal much about her colourful private life—full of drama, fanciful clothes, gambling, and tragic love.

Ticket information

• Admission 8 €
• Free entry with the Museum Card. Museum Card holders are also kindly asked to reserve a ticket.
• Tickets can be purchased at the University of Tartu Art Museum ticket desk or via Fienta.

From 9–15 February, the University of Tartu will host a Women in Science theme week to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The aim is to highlight the role of women and girls in science, challenge gender stereotypes, and encourage more women to pursue science. See the full programme here.