Émilie du Châtelet Cause Of Death: How Did Émilie du Châtelet Die?

Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet was a French natural philosopher and mathematician during the early 1730s until her death in 1749.

Emilie du Chatelet’s most recognized achievement is her translation of and commentary on Isaac Newton’s 1687 book Principia containing basic laws of physics. The translation, published posthumously in 1756, is still regarded as the standard French translation till today.

Emilie du Chatelet’s philosophical magnum opus, Institutions de Physique (Paris, 1740, first edition), or Foundations of Physics, circulated widely, generated heated debates, and was republished and translated into several other languages within two years of its original publication.

Emilie du Chatelet participated in the famous vis viva debate, which was about the best way to measure the force of a body and the best means of thinking about conservation principles.

Emilie du Chatelet was born on December 17, 1706, in Paris.

How Did Émilie du Châtelet Die?

Emilie du Chatelet died in 1749 as a result of complications during childbirth.

In May 1748, Emilie Du Châtelet began an affair with the poet Jean François de Saint-Lambert and became pregnant. In a letter to a friend Emilie du Chatelet confided her fears that she would not survive her pregnancy.

On the night of 4 September 1749, Emilie du Chatelet gave birth to a daughter, Stanislas-Adélaïde. However, Du Châtelet died on 10 September 1749, at Lunéville, from a pulmonary embolism,  a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs.