French mathematician who did important work on Fermat's last theorem, proving it for any primes less than 100 under certain assumptions (and, in particular, for Sophie Germain primes. She also contributed to acoustics, elasticity, and number theory.

Germain's parents strongly discouraged her from her early mathematical interests, following the usual belief of the times that women were not suited to do mathematics. However, Germain persisted, even after her parents hid her math books, removed her candles, and turned off the heat in her room and took away her clothes so that she could not get out of bed at night to study. In the face of her obvious dedication, her parents were forced to relent. Because she was a woman, she was not allowed to attend lectures at the École Polytechnique. However, she was able to study lecture notes from courses at the École, and began a correspondence with continental mathematicians, including Gauss, under the pen name "Antoine-August Le Blanc."

Upon discovering that his gifted correspondent was a women, Gauss wrote a later to Germain stating, "A taste for the abstract sciences in general and above all the mysteries of numbers is excessively rare.... But when a person of the sex which, according to our customs and prejudices, must encounter infinitely more difficulties than men to familiarize herself with these thorny researches, succeeds nevertheless in surmounting these obstacles and penetrating the most obscure parts of them, then without a doubt she must have the noblest courage, quite extraordinary talents and superior genius" (Hoffman 1998, p. 191). Gauss subsequently arranged for Germain to receive an honorary degree from Göttingen but, tragically, she died of breast cancer at age 55 before she could receive it.

Additional biographies: MacTutor (St. Andrews), Bonn, Women Mathematicians