Sophia Brahe

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Sophie Brahe, or Sophia, (August 24, 1556 – 1643) was a Danish horticulturalist and student of astronomy, chemistry, and medicine, best known for assisting her brother Tycho Brahe with his astronomical observations.

She was born in Knudstrup to Otte Brahe rigsråd, or advisor to the King of Denmark; and to Beate Bille Brahe, leader to the household for Queen Sophie. Famous astronomer Tycho Brahe was her oldest brother. She was the youngest of ten children. She started assisting her brother with his astronomical observations in 1573, and helped him with the work that became the basis for modern planetary orbit predictions, frequently visiting his observatory Uranienborg, on the island of Hveen. Tycho wrote that he had trained her in horticulture and chemistry, but he told her not to study astronomy. He expressed with pride that she learned astronomy on her own, studying books in German, and having Latin books translated with her own money so that she could also study them (Tjɸrnum). Brother and sister were united not only by science, but by the fact that their family did not approve of science as being an appropriate activity for noble people. Tycho referred with admiration to her 'animus invictus', her determined mind (Det Kongelige Bibliotek).

She married Otto Thott in 1576, when she was 19 or 20 and he was 33, and had one child with him before he died in 1588. Her son was Tage Thott, born in 1580. Upon her husband's death she managed his property in Ericksholm, running the estate to keep it profitable until her son came of age. During this time, she also became a horticulturalist, in addition to her studies in chemistry and medicine. The gardens she created in Ericksholm were supposed to be exceptional. Sophie was particularly interested in studying chemistry and medicine according to Paracelsus, where small doses of poison might serve as strong medicines. She also helped her brother with producing horoscopes, continuing with that until 1597 (Det Kongelige Biblioteck).

On July 21, 1587, King Frederick II of Denmark signed a document transferring to Sophia Brahe title of Årup farm in what is now Sweden (Svensson, et.al).

During the times she visited at Uranienborg, she met Erik Lange, a nobleman who studied alchemy. In 1590, there are records that Sophie took 13 visits to Uranienborg, and they became engaged in that year. Unfortunately, Lange used up most of his fortune with alchemy experiments, so their marriage was delayed some years, while he avoided his debtors and traveled to Germany to try and find patrons for his work. Tycho Brahe wrote the poem Urania Titani during their separation, as a letter from his sister Sophia to her fiance in 1594. In 1599, she visited Lange in Hamburg, but they do not marry until 1602, in Eckenförde. They lived in this town for a while in extreme poverty. There is a long letter to Sophie's sister Margrethe Brahe, in which Sophie describes having to wear stockings with holes in them for her wedding. Lange's wedding clothes had to be returned to the pawn shope after the wedding, because they could not afford to keep them. This letter is said to express anger with her family for not accepting her science studies, and for depriving her of money owed to her. The letter is described as personal, emotional, and also showing humor. By 1608, Erik Lange was living in Prague, and he died there in 1613 (Det Kongelige Bibliotek).

Sophie Brahe personally financed the restoration of the local church, Ivetofta kyrka. She planned to be buried there, and the lid for her unused sarcophagus remains in the church's armory (Svensson, et. al). However, by 1616 she had moved back permanently to Denmark and settled in Helsingør. She spent her last years writing up the genealogy of Danish noble families, publishing the first major version in 1626 (there were later additions). Her work is still considered a major source for early history of Danish nobility(Det Kongelige Bibliotek). She died in Helsingør in the year 1643, and was buried in Kristianstad, in Trefaldighets kyrka, with the Thott family (Tjɸrnum).

[edit] References

  • Det Kongelige Bibliotek (accessed 9/25/07) Sophie Brahe: Brev til Margrethe Brahe. http://kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/622/ translated by Peter Schøler.
  • Marilyn Ogilvie (1986). "Brahe, Sophia". Women in Science: Antiquity through Nineteenth Century: A Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography. MIT Press. 46. ISBN 026265038X. 
  • August Ziggelaar (1996) Peter Zeeberg. Tycho brahes "Urania Titani": Et digt om Sophie Brahe. Book review in Isis. Vol.87, no.3. p. 542-543.
  • Rebecka Svensson, Caroline Bengtsson & Lisa Jönsson (accessed 12/19/02) Årup <htt;:www.bromolla-solvesborg.se/..toria/Bromolla/Byar/Arup.html> translated from Swedish by Niels Erik Scholer, 12/02.
  • Gilbert Tjørnum (accessed 9/18/07) Hvem er Sophie? Nyhedsbrevet Sophie No.3, 27.11.2003. Astrologisk Museum, Denmark. <http://www.asmu,dk/Download/nyhedsbrev/1.aar/sophie303.pdf> (in Danish).


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