Marie Meurdrac | |
|---|---|
 Frontispiece of La Chymie ... des Dames, 1687 edition | |
| Born | c. 1610 |
| Died | 1680 (aged around 70) |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupations |
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| Notable work | La Chymie Charitable et Facile, en Faveur des Dames |
Marie Meurdrac (c. 1610 – 1680) was a French chemist and alchemist known for writing La Chymie Charitable et Facile, en Faveur des Dames [Easy Chemistry for Women], a treatise on chemistry aimed at common women.[1] It is through this book that her name has survived to the present day, and scholars have argued that this was the first work on chemistry or alchemy by a woman since that of Maria the Jewess in the late classical period.[2] Historian Lucia Tosi described Meurdrac as the first woman to publish a book on early chemistry. Though she was reluctant to write, concerned about criticism from those who didn't believe women should receive an education, she was a proto-feminist, and believed that "minds have no sex."[1]
- ^ a b Gordon, Robin L. (2013). Searching for the Soror Mystica. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0-7618-6055-6.
- ^ Offereins, M. & Strohmeier, R. (2011). "Marie Meurdrac," in European Women in Chemistry (ed. Jan Apotheker & Livia Simon Sarkadi), Google ebook. ISBN 9783527636464.