Marie Le Masson Le Golft facts for kids

Marie Le Masson Le Golft (born October 25, 1750 – died January 3, 1826) was a French naturalist. A naturalist is someone who studies nature, like animals, plants, and rocks.

Life of Marie Le Masson Le Golft

Marie Le Masson Le Golft learned a lot from Jacques-François Dicquemare. He was a naturalist and a friend of her father. She helped him with his science projects.

Dicquemare had written a big book about molluscs. Molluscs are soft-bodied animals like snails and clams. Marie tried hard to get his book published. But it cost too much money, and she could not find a way to print it.

Her efforts to publish the book connected her with important scientists. These included Bernard Germain de Lacépède, Nicolas de Condorcet, and Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton. They were famous thinkers of the late 1700s.

Marie Le Masson Le Golft as a Teacher and Writer

Marie Le Masson Le Golft was also a teacher. In 1788, she published a book called Letters on Education. She wrote other books too, but they were never published.

Two of her books are still important today. One is Balance of Nature, published in 1784. In this book, she gave "grades" to hundreds of animals, plants, and minerals. She tried to show how everything in nature was connected.

Her other important book was A General Sketch of Mankind from 1787. This was a world map. On the map, she used symbols to show all the different people known at that time. She also showed their special features.

Later Life and Legacy

Marie Le Masson Le Golft spent her last years in Rouen, France. She was poor and almost forgotten. In Rouen, she taught geography and drawing.

When she died, she gave her personal library to the city of Rouen. Her library included many drawings, engravings, and copper plates. These were the pictures that were meant for Dicquemare's book on molluscs.

Marie Le Masson Le Golft was a member of several important groups. She joined science and education academies in different parts of France. She was also a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid Education in Spain. She joined the Cercle des Philadelphes in Cap-Haïtien (which was then called Cap-Français). She was also part of the Royal Society of Bilbao.

Works by Marie Le Masson Le Golft

• Entretien sur Le Havre, Le Havre, chez les libraires, 1781.
• Balance de la nature, Paris, chez Barois l'aîné, 1784 (republished by Marc Décimo, Préface La femme qui notait la Nature, Les presses du réel, 2005)
• Esquisse d'un tableau général du genre humain, planisphère printed by Moithey, ingénieur-géographe du roi, 1787.
• Le Havre au jour le jour de 1778 à 1790, Éd. Philippe Manneville, Rouen, Société de l'histoire de Normandie, 1999 (provides the Annales de la ville du Havre written by Marie Le Masson Le Golft between 1778 and 1790, as well as parts of the Entretien sur Le Havre.)
• Lettres relatives à l'éducation, Paris, Buisson, 1788

See also

In Spanish: Marie Le Masson Le Golft para niños