Hélène Metzger (26 August 1889 – 7 March 1944) was a French

philosopher of science Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

. In her writings she focused mainly on the

history of chemistry The history of chemistry represents a time span from ancient history to the present. By 1000 BC, civilizations used technologies that would eventually form the basis of the various branches of chemistry. Examples include the discovery of fire, ex ...

. She was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Early life and education

Hélène Bruhl was born on 26 August 1889 to an upper middle-class Jewish family in

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

. She was the niece of

Lucien Lévy-Bruhl Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (; 10 April 1857 – 13 March 1939) was a French scholar trained in philosophy who furthered anthropology with his contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field interest was ways of thinking. ...

, an influential French

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

. Her father insisted that she and her sister stop their studies after only three years at university. In 1912, she obtained a diploma in

crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

. She married in 1914, and was widowed only a few months afterwards, after which she returned to research.

Research and writing

In 1918, Metzger submitted a thesis on the emergence of the science of crystals. During the 1920s and 30s, she published six books on the history of chemistry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whilst supporting herself on the money from her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

Bibliography

*''La genèse de la science des cristaux'' (1918) *''Les doctrines chimiques en France du début du XVIIe à la fin du XVIIIe siècle'' (1923) *''Les Concepts scientifiques'' (1926) *''Newton, Stahl, Boerhaave et la doctrine chimique'' (1930) *''La chimie'' (1930) *''La Philosophie de la matière chez Lavoisier'' (1935) *''Attraction universelle et religion naturelle chez quelques commentateurs anglais de Newton'' (1938) *''La Science, l'appel de la religion et la volonté humaine'' (1954) *''La Méthode philosophique en histoire des sciences''(1987) (ed. Gad Freudenthal) * "Extraits de lettres, 1921–1944," in Gad Freudenthal ''Études sur / Studies on Hélène Metzger'' (1990), pp. 247–269.

Death and legacy

Metgzer became a victim of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

because of her Jewish background. When France was occupied by the Nazis in the 1940s, Metzger initially stayed in Paris before moving to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, which was part of the so-called " free zone", in late 1941. She refused to go into hiding and was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

on 8 February 1944. She was then deported from Drancy to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

on 7 March 1944, and was murdered either during travel or upon arrival. Metzger's work was not always recognised during her lifetime and she never held an academic position, but she is one of the few prewar French historians of science whose work is widely read today. Because of her early death, her oeuvre is limited in size, but has nonetheless been influential. She published nine books, thirty-six articles and numerous reviews. Contemporaries such as

Gaston Bachelard Gaston Bachelard (; ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter, he introduced the concepts of ''epistemological obstacle'' and ''Epist ...

and Émile Meyerson referred often to her works and also

Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...

, in the introduction of his book ''

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' is a 1962 book about the history of science by the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn. Its publication was a landmark event in the History of science, history, Philosophy of science, philosophy, and sociology ...

'' (1962) referred to her as one of his main inspirations.

References

Sources

* , 'Chemistry in the French tradition of philosophy of science: Duhem, Meyerson, Metzger and Bachelard,' ''Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science'', 36, 2005, pp. 627–648. * , 'Hélène Metzger: The History of Science between the Study of Mentalities and Total History,' ''Studies in History and Philosophy of Science'', 32, 2001, pp. 203–241. * , ''Writing the History of the Mind - Philosophy and Science in France, 1900 to 1960s'', Aldershot, Ashgate, 2008. * &
'A Mind of Her Own. Hélène Metzger to Émile Meyerson, 1933'
''Isis'', 94, 2003, pp. 477–491. * (ed.) ''Études sur / Studies on Hélène Metzger'', Leiden, Brill, 1990. {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzger, Helene 1889 births 1944 deaths 20th-century French Jews 20th-century French women writers 20th-century French philosophers Jewish philosophers French Jews who died in the Holocaust French women philosophers French historians of science French philosophers of science