Jeanne Villepreux-Power - ”Mother of Aquariophily” & Inventor of the Aquarium

Broads You Should Know

Jeanne Villepreux-Power has to be one of the most interesting STEM broads from the 19th Century! The daughter of a shoemaker and a seamstress, Jeanne follows her mother's line of work and slays it, making dresses for the top royalty and high society Europeans. After marrying a well-to-do merchant, though, she doesn't have to work for a living anymore - she's living the high life! Except...the genteel life didn't sit with her. She rolls up her sleeves and becomes a SCIENTIST.

Jeanne quickly becomes the leading expert on nature and wildlife, and especially MARINE life on Sicily. Her fascination with a certain special little cephalopod named Argonauta argo (aka the paper nautilus) leads her to one of the most important inventions in the history of marine biology - she invents the the AQUARIUM!

The research and discoveries she makes peering into her aquariums will end up shaking the foundations of what people understood about the Argonauta, but do the other scientists accept her radical new observations? You'll have to listen to find out!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

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Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye