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Hypatia
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Hypatia Robert Trewick Bone: Hypatia Teaching at Alexandria Engraving depicting the murder of Hypatia in ancient Alexandria, with Hypatia on the ground surrounded by men in ancient robes, some raising stones or weapons in a chaotic street scene. Hypatia of Alexandria Map of the Greco-Roman world highlighting the birthplaces of notable ancient mathematicians, marked with the pi symbol and labeled with their names. Cities such as Athens, Alexandria, Syracuse, and Miletus are shown around the Mediterranean, with modern country boundaries outlined. An inset provides detail for the region of Greece and western Anatolia.
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Agathon (centre) greeting guests in "Plato's Symposium" oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.
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Hypatia
Hypatia Hypatia.

Hypatia

mathematician and astronomer
Written by
Michael Deakin
Honorary Research Fellow, School of Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Author of Hypatia of Alexandria: Mathematician and Martyr.
Michael Deakin
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Hypatia (born c. 355 ce—died March 415, Alexandria) was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a very turbulent era in Alexandria’s history. She is the earliest female mathematician of whose life and work reasonably detailed knowledge exists. Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, himself a mathematician and astronomer and the last attested member of the Alexandrian Museum (see Researcher’s Note: Hypatia’s birth date). Theon is best remembered for the part he...

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