María Andrea Casamayor facts for kids

Maria Andresa Casamayor de La Coma (born November 30, 1720, in Zaragoza, Spain – died October 23, 1780, in Zaragoza, Spain) was a Spanish mathematician, writer, and teacher. She was very good at math and worked with numbers, making important contributions to arithmetic. At that time, math was mostly seen as a subject for men.

Maria Andresa is one of the few Spanish women scientists and mathematicians from the 1700s whose work we still have today. Another famous woman from that time was María Pascuala Caro Sureda.

Her Early Life and Family

Maria Andresa Casamayor de La Coma was born on November 30, 1720. This day is also Saint Andrew's Day. She was baptized the very next day at the Church of El Pilar. Her full name was Maria Juana Rosa Andresa.

She grew up in a wealthy family who sold textiles (like fabrics and clothes). Her father, Juan Joseph Casamayor, was a merchant from France. Her mother, Juana Rosa de La Coma, was from Zaragoza, and her family also had French roots. Many French people lived in Zaragoza back then. They had strong business connections and were important in trade. Maria Andresa was the seventh of nine children.

Her Amazing Books

Maria Andresa wrote two books about arithmetic, which is the study of numbers and how they work.

Tyrocinio aritmético

Her first book, called Tyrocinio aritmético, was published in 1738. This book was very practical and easy to understand. It gave many examples based on real-life situations. This helped readers learn the four basic rules of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

The examples in the book also showed that Maria Andresa knew a lot about the different units of length, weight, and money used in daily trade during the 1700s. A friend of hers, Pedro Martínez, said that her goal was "to bring education to the many who have no means to achieve it." This shows how much she cared about helping people learn.

El para sí solo

Her second book was called El para sí solo. It was a 109-page manuscript, meaning it was a handwritten book that was never officially published. This book was about more advanced arithmetic.

Writing Under a Secret Name

Maria Andresa wrote her books using a male pseudonym, or pen name. Her secret name was Casandro Mamés de La Marca y Araioa. This name was a perfect anagram of her real name, Maria Andresa Casamayor de La Coma. An anagram means all the letters from her real name were rearranged to form her pen name.

Interestingly, there was a mistake in how her name was spelled in an old book called "New Bibliography of Aragonese Writers." It listed her as "Maria Andrea" instead of "Maria Andresa." Because of this, some people still use the name Maria Andrea today, even though her baptism certificate shows her real name was Maria Andresa.

In her book Tyrocinio, Casandro (Maria Andresa's pen name) said he was a "disciple of the Piarist School." She also dedicated the book to this school, "Escuela Pía del Colegio de Santo Tomás de Zaragoza."

A Teacher for Girls

After her father died in 1738 and her friend Pedro Martínez died in 1739, Maria Andresa lost important support in her life. Unlike many women in Zaragoza at that time, she never married or joined a religious order. She needed to work to support herself.

For most of her life, Maria Andresa taught at a girls' school. She was a primary school teacher in the public schools of Zaragoza. She even lived in a house that was given to her as part of her payment. This building still stands today on Palomar street in Zaragoza.

Honoring Her Memory

Maria Andresa Casamayor has been honored in several ways:

• In 2009, the City Council of Zaragoza renamed a street after her.
• There is also a street named after her in Gijón, another city in Spain.
• In 2018, she was included in "The Periodic Table of Women Scientists." This project highlights women in science from all over the world.

See also

In Spanish: María Andresa Casamayor para niños