DeutschHypatia 360-415 was a philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Roman Empire.
She was a prominent thinker and taught philosophy and astronomy. Hypatia was the second known female mathematician (the first was Pandrosion), the first female mathematician whose life is reasonably well recorded.
Hypatia was renowned in her lifetime as a great teacher and a wise counsellor. She wrote a commentary on Diophantus’s thirteen-volume Arithmetica and another commentary, which has not survived. Many modern scholars also believe Hypatia may have edited her father’s book. Her father mentioned her contribution, but some scholars think Hypatia wrote it.
She was part of the philosophical school Neoplatonism and taught about the writings of Plato and Aristoteles. She also walked in a special cloak on the streets of Alexandria and gave spontaneous public lectures. She was well respected. Hypatia never married, and according to the stories, she held men at a distance with music or rejections. She even showed menstrual rags once to a suiter to shake him off.
She, a pageant, was tolerant towards and beloved by Christians and taught many Christian students,
including Synesius, the future bishop of Ptolemais. She established great influence with the political elite in Alexandria. Towards the end of her life, Hypatia advised Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, who was in the midst of a political feud with Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria. Rumours spread accusing her of preventing Orestes from reconciling with Cyril, and, in March 415 AD, she was brutally murdered by a mob of Christians led by a lector named Peter. According to the stories, she was undressed, carved up, her eyeballs were cut out and many more atrocities. It was a purely political murder, making Hypatia a martyr for philosophy.
This is a series of posts about impressive women who are role models. Historical giants in science, philosophy, education, medicine and whatever I am impressed by.
Source: Wikipedia.
