What if we told you one of the most famous philosophers, thinkers and writers of all time, had a brilliant girlfriend who actually contributed many of his most famous ideas? That's right. Today we're traveling to Paris to tell the story of Voltaire and Emily du Chatelet. I'm Sarah Wendell, obviously.
I'm Alicia Rai. Obviously. I'm Nick Lachey office.
I'm in love with that. Start with you.
Have you ever been to Paris?
I have I went for a French exchange when I was like 15 years old.
Didn't know that tells me
everything. Yeah. So I honestly I remember taking that paper home to my parents thinking like, there's no way they're gonna let me go to France by myself for three weeks. And immediately now almost like, Oh, that's great. Yeah, you should go. What are you? I wonder if they just wanted some like child free time? Because it was so unusual for them to just say, okay, yeah, you can go on an exchange to France, by yourself. How old? Were you by mice? I mean, when it was with my school, I was like, 1415. Maybe that's how old I was. Yeah. And so I know, the girl whose family is going to stay with came to us first. And the sad thing is remember that I lived in Buffalo. And so she came to Buffalo from France. Ah, I mean, we took her to like Niagara Falls, or he took her into a mall. But there wasn't like a lot to do in Buffalo. But she had a blast. I think she was just like, oh, it's America. That's so exciting. And they did. They took her like the school took her to New York City and stuff. So it was, you know, they did get to do stuff. But then we got to go to a very small town whose name I cannot recall, in France. And I spent, you know, two weeks there. And then we spent a week in Paris, just my school classmates and I. And it was wonderful. I loved it. I still remember it to this day. I remember seeing everything and I have photos of it. Which is odd because I didn't have a lot of photos. I think of my childhood or teenagehood. Not like, you know, my siblings do now. Because we didn't have digital phones. Right? So yeah, I loved it. It was beautiful. It was we went out like a winter in the spring. And it was a beautiful part of springtime in Paris. Yeah, it was a perfect time. And I even loved the little town we stayed in. So maybe that's how they felt about buffalo. They were like, Wow, this place is so charming from
guy. And if it was spring, it wasn't too much snow. Yes. Yeah. You can't leave your house. Yeah,
welcome to America, you can't leave.
You're stuck inside the snow drift is up to the roof. Unless you want to ski off the roof. You're staying in. Yep.
But I loved it. I would love to go back. We're hoping maybe for our honeymoon to go around Europe. So maybe we'll stop in Paris.
I can tell you, I will give you a restaurant recommendation. I Adam and I went in 2019. We went through roads in Greece. And then we went to Paris. Oh, so we went to dinner, it was one seating. And there was a menu is a 18 course meal. And you could have 18 courses, or you could have 18 courses paired with different glasses of wine. So of course, Oh, we did that. And the waiter, and the waitress made sure that they spoke English and they identified my allergies and they adjusted plate so that there wouldn't be anything I couldn't eat. But we decided that with 18 courses with each course we were going to tell each other something that we loved about the other before each course. It was wonderful. Because not only are we drinking incredible wine, different wine with every course is a lot of wine
is really a lot. It was a lot of lines.
And each course was slightly different. And they would introduce what it was. And sometimes this is how you eat you put this here and you put that on top and then you eat it. And each course we had a different conversation about what we loved about each other. And it was probably three and a half to four hours. One of the best meals of my life was so good.
Well, today we are going to France and we're going to be telling you the most French of all French love stories, Voltaire and Emily du Chatelet. Now, it's okay. If you vaguely remember reading about Voltaire in school, we're gonna delve into exactly who he was and why he's important. But after listening to this episode, you may be more impressed with his girl. A friend, and the incredible relationship they built together. So we're gonna go back to 1700s France, it's the Age of Enlightenment, and Voltaire is the leading European thinker of the age. He's famous for his critique of Christianity and slavery and his championing of free speech, separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Emily was a remarkably educated woman, specifically a mathematician in a time where it was rare for women to be schooled at all. And I liked this quote a lot. It was about her elegance for women demands undivided attention. Emily was an intellectual she had not endless hours to waste with hairdressers and dress makers. And she was often criticized for her unkempt appearance even at the height of her intellectual fame, which was not an unusual criticism at women who were intellectuals. Emily's father privately educated her, which was exceedingly unusual for that time in several languages, and most importantly in math. Now, Voltaire and Emily got together after a series of separate intense love affairs. And when I say intense, I mean one time she like drink poison to stop a man from leaving her. She was a very intense woman.
Oh my,
when they when the two of them met she had sworn off love in favor of mathematics. They met in a tavern over Chicken Fricassee with some other badass intellectual lovers. And upon meeting her Voltaire later wrote to a friend, that lady whom I look upon as a great man, she understands Newton, She despises superstition, and in short, she makes me happy.
I mean, if she ticks all your boxes, dude, I know
there is the slight wrinkle that she's still married, but her husband is often away, or visits.
Well, that works out in his favor.
Nobody's unproblematic. No waiver business, and she invites him to her house in the country, and together they cultivate some of the biggest ideas and schools of thought in the enlightenment. At her country house, he writes a pamphlet that simplifies some of his most famous theories, which explain Sir Isaac Newton's theories and recognizing how influential Emily is to his endeavors includes a picture on the cover that shows her being the conduit from Newton himself. So his basically his inspiration or his muse. Oh, I know. And also she has her own projects. During that time. She's trying to translate news discoveries in mathematics and physics into French, as you do, and she does so at just normally as she has her commentary along the way. She was allegedly a bit of a card shark, which goes along with her mathematical mind. She and she could add and strategize games much faster than most anyone else playing offense and surprise whoever's company she happened to be in, but she was too impatient to actually win.
I don't know I feel like this sounds a little bit like my attention deficit issue. But I'm
sure her sitting there like all of you are too slow, and I am bored and I'm just gonna leave. I understand that there are many, many hundreds of francs on the table here and I could win them but I am bored. I am leaving.
Okay. Yes. And like did so in a very French way. Probably swept out of the rebellious
you know, she glided you know, she just yeah, she
glowed. Oh, yeah. And after several years together, shacked up in this country house again, she was still married to her husband during this time. A French poet, who was a fan of her work arrives and slowly but surely seduces her. During one of Voltaire's absences. He's 10 years younger than her, and Emily finds herself pregnant with his child at age 44.
Timeout Yeah. Okay, I am, I am currently around that age. And if I got pregnant, there would be many doctors involved, it'd be a lot of ultrasounds because that would be considered high risk. I cannot imagine being pregnant at 44 at that time, holy cow.
Well, so her alarm probably isn't at being pregnant, but it's a lot what this is going to do to her work, because Emily begins a fever schedule a timing to finish her French translations of mathematical works, sometimes working 18 hours a day while pregnant at 44. So throughout this time, she and Voltaire remember this is the poet's child, not Voltaire, she and Voltaire remain close, and he decides that they are better as friends and she's better as his muse as he's an old man and she has total life left in her and she should enjoy her romance while she can. Isn't that such a French attitude?
Such as dude attitude, I
guess this young poet can give you something and also such a friend to do that.
If, yes, please continue to inspire me.
But you know, that's fine. You can go off with this poet is fine. Yeah. She unfortunately dies in childbirth did I say, I know, I know. And you know, like nowadays a high risk, you know, like a older birth like that is doable with doctors and hospitals with all sorts of help but not so much then. And she's surrounded by her husband Voltaire and the poet. And this is tragic, but she did manage to finish her life's work before she passed away. And 10 years after her death slowly but surely Voltaire does get her French translations of news were published, which is still the translation used in France today.
Wow. I know. Isn't it amazing that we all know Voltaire's name, but this person had just as much intellect and ambition and drive
and continues to have her work published? I mean, it's not it's not like it was ever lost, changed or altered or loss. But But yeah, definitely, she took a backseat to him, and in a lot of things is just referred to as his lover his views. But she was way more than that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Wow. I don't know if you were if you were between a philosopher and a poet, who
would you pick? Oh, who talks less? That's my first question. Who's talking to who's talking at me less?
Hmm, depends what kind of code it is because maybe if it's like a, like a short form policy, right, hi, Ordos. I'm one of those Instagram poets where it's just like one word at a time and a lot of blank space.
Maybe tiny squares
of poetry. Okay. Yeah. I think I think maybe then
the poet but yeah. I don't know. Maybe the philosopher's a better life.
If the poetry involves drums, I'm gonna have to say no,
you're out. You're out. Drums, that would be your deal breaker. Well, I
say that as a person with a full drum kit in her basement. Yeah,
so I do. Two kids really into music.
In my home, I currently have a drum kit, three trombones, a trumpet for guitars, and a keyboard. Yeah, we're getting the band back together. It is in my basement. But yes, if the poetry involves drums, I'm gonna have to say take it outside, please. Poetry. What about you a poet or philosopher?
I'm gonna go I you know what? Here's the thing I don't understand most. I like both of those options. sounds exhausting to me. I, I do think sometimes. I do think sometimes chi is the poet. He's absolutely poetic. Are you kidding? Yeah, he's very poetic. So I guess I'll go with a poet because I think that they might say more flowery things than I do like flowery things.
So I think overall, in the question, poet versus philosopher, a poet thinks about the language that they use. So maybe we want to go with poetry here. You want to go with somebody who thinks about the language that they use and the words that they're choosing? Yeah, I
think that that's cool. I understand that. And if anyone's looking for more words about this, we do you have a book recommendation. Let's hear in love by Nancy Mitford it which is an account of Voltaire's 15 year relationship with the marquis du chalet, the renowned mathematician who introduced Isaac Newton's revolutionary new physics to France. And it's a spirited robbing the company of two extraordinary individuals as well as an gossipy guide to French high society during the Enlightenment. So oh, you can check that I
love a good gossipy guide. Yeah, seriously, just drop the word gossipy guy in front of me. I'll be like, I'll go to whatever period in history you want to tell me all the tea. I want to know all the dish.
I will just add that if I have butchered any French in this, please know that it's been a long time since I was in French class in high school.
We just read this delay. We're sorry.
Yes, we're so sorry. Sarah, do you have a love to go for today? And for Voltaire and there we I am more adept more to go. How was your sorry?
I'm more difficult.
I Oh, I don't know. I don't remember. I let's let's let the listeners tell us. Yeah. How do we say let me go in French.
All French listeners are French speaking listeners are just there. We're so sorry.
All right. Well, well, Sarah, what is your love to go well do English?
I would say that the lesson I'm taking from today's episode is to pursue your passions no matter what. Yeah, you know, no one was no one was asking for this translation. I don't think anyone was beating down the door and saying no, we want this right now. But this was her passion and she pursued it.
And we would love to learn about your passions. So please send us an email to lovestruck daily at frolicked up EDM and you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter at lovestruck daily. Please leave us a review subscribe and spread the word about our show. We would love to bring
more love to more people. Our researcher is Jesse Epstein. Our editor is Jen Jacobs. We are produced by Abigail steckler and little Scorpion studios with executive producer frolic media. This is an I Heart Radio Podcast.
Thank you so much for listening and have a very happily ever after a show. I'm not even going to try it in French.
I'm in love with you. To you I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you
