Francine Descartes
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (August 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Francine Descartes (19 July 1635, Deventer – 7 September 1640, Amersfoort) was René Descartes's daughter.
Francine was the daughter of Helena Jans van der Strom,
Helena was the only woman with whom Descartes is known to have been intimate and she and Descartes appear to have remained close after Francine's death. Helena may have moved with Descartes to his next addresses — including in 1643 to Egmond-Binnen — where in 1644 she married the local innkeeper Jan Jansz van Wel. Notary acts discovered by Jeroen van de Ven show that Descartes provided the 1000-guilder dowry for this wedding.[1][2] Descartes himself would remain in Egmond-Binnen until 1649, the longest period he ever stayed at any residence.
Francine had four half brothers through her mother, Helena:
- Justinus Jansz van Wel, son of Jan Jansz van Wel, Helena's first husband,
- Jan van Lienen,
- Wouter van Lienen and
- Willem van Lienen from Helena's second husband, Jacob van Lienen.
After Francine's death, René Descartes is said to have constructed an automaton in her likeness.[3][4][5]
References
- ^ a b Jeroen van de Ven, Quelques données nouvelles sur Helena Jans, Bulletin Cartésien XXXII, Centre d’Études Cartésiennes, 2004.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-385-51753-9(New York: Random House, 14 October 2008).
- ^ Gaby Wood (25 August 2002), "'Edison's Eve'", The New York Times
- ^ "Descartes' Daughter", Swiss Institute, 2013