伊丽莎白·赫维留Elisabeth Hevelius

伊丽莎白·赫维留 Koopman的父母是Nicholas Kooperman（或Cooperman）（1601-1672），他是一位富裕的商人，以及Joanna Mennings（或Menninx）（1602-1679）。Nicholas和Joanna于1633年在阿姆斯特丹结婚。他们从阿姆斯特丹搬到汉堡，然后于1636年搬到但泽。正是在这座城市，他们的女儿赫维留出生了，这里主要讲德语，但当时是波兰的一部分。

正是对天文学的迷恋，使赫维留在还是个孩子的时候就去找约翰·赫维留，后者是一位享有国际声誉的天文学家，在但泽拥有三座房屋组成的建筑群，其中设有世界上最好的天文台。赫维留答应这个小女孩，等她长大后会向她展示“天空的奇观”。约翰·赫维留的妻子于1662年3月去世，此后一段时间，现已十五岁的赫维留再次去找约翰·赫维留，提醒他曾经答应过，等她长大后会从自己的天文台向她展示天空——而现在她已经十五岁了。事实上，随着年龄增长，她对天文学变得更加热情，并且越来越意识到，住在同一座城市里的竟是天文学界如此重要的人物。Hevelke以一种非常古雅、老派的文风写道，她越长大[1]：-

……她就越是怀着深切而真诚的崇敬围绕在这位令人钦佩的学者的形象周围，与此同时，一种初生的爱意和充满想象的仰慕也交织其中，直到她渴望能被允许永远侍奉这位伟人，参与他在夜深人静时进行的神秘工作；分享他的成功与声名。当她在星光闪烁的夜晚，透过他的巨型望远镜，以狂喜的目光和跳动的心追随那轮明亮的满月沿着寂静的轨迹运行时，她热情地喊道：“能永远留在这里凝望，能被允许与你一起探索并宣告天空的奇观；那会让我无比幸福！”而这位可敬的人也感到，这或许也会让他幸福。

也许事情就是这样发生的。他们进行了大胆的尝试，这两个年龄如此悬殊的人。尝试结果很幸福。……他们于1663年在圣凯瑟琳教堂订婚。这位天文学家在这位年轻、备受仰慕的女士身上，找到了一位在观测和工作中熟练而不倦、善解人意且忠诚的帮手。赫维留自己可能也常常记得那些经常鼓励她丈夫的话：“没有什么比知晓一切更甜蜜，而对所有美好技艺的热情，迟早会带来卓越的回报。”

关于赫维留，有几件事可以通过进一步研究来更好地理解她的生活。例如，我们知道她写过拉丁文，因为我们有她写给其他科学家的拉丁文书信的副本。约翰·赫维留写拉丁文，但不得不说，赫维留的文笔比她的丈夫更有风格。那么问题就是，她是什么时候学会拉丁文的？如果她是在嫁给约翰·赫维留之前小时候学会的，那将极不寻常，但这仍是一种可能。如果她是为了帮助丈夫而学习拉丁文，这同样会令人惊讶，人们就不得不问，为什么当时学习拉丁文的努力会成为她的优先事项。然而，答案必定是这两种情况之一。我们同样知道她从事数学工作，因为弗朗索瓦·阿拉戈提到，她用约翰·赫维留的仪器进行观测，做了非常有用的工作，并在数学计算方面做了非常有用的工作。在这种情况下，人们可能更确定是约翰·赫维留教了她必要的数学技能，但同样不能排除她小时候上过一些数学课的可能性。

赫维留和约翰·赫维留于1663年2月3日在但泽的圣凯瑟琳教堂结婚。他们有一个儿子，一岁时夭折，还有三个女儿，后来都结婚并有了自己的孩子。三个女儿中最年长的名叫Catherina 赫维留（随她母亲），于1666年2月14日在但泽的圣凯瑟琳教堂受洗。从约翰·伯努利三世的著作中我们知道，赫维留：-

……患了天花，并留下了严重的疤痕。她的丈夫从未得过这种病，却从未离开她的病床，忠心地照料她……

这一定发生在约翰·赫维留去世前不久，肯定是在这个家庭遭遇悲剧很久之后。他们的家和天文台在1679年9月26日夜间被大火烧毁，可能是有人故意纵火。

你可以阅读一篇关于 Hevelius fire 的记述。

约翰·赫维留写信给他的赞助人法国国王路易十四，解释了那天晚上发生的事情。开头部分有助于描述赫维留的贡献：-

在火灾前那个不幸的晚上，我因不习惯的恐惧而深感不安。为了振作精神，我说服了我年轻的妻子，她是我夜间观测的忠实助手，到城墙外我们的乡间住所过夜……

爱德蒙·哈雷在1679年夏天拜访了约翰·赫维留及其妻子，不久之后他们的家和天文台就被大火烧毁。也许因为这场火灾，一个谣言传到英格兰，说约翰·赫维留已经死了。赫维留一定曾请爱德蒙·哈雷在英国为她买一件衣服，因为1679年10月，爱德蒙·哈雷把衣服寄给了但泽市秘书，写道：-

我完全明白[约翰·赫维留的]心碎配偶一定穿着悲伤颜色的衣服，然而由于几个原因，我认为还是把她所购的长袍寄去为好……因为我还不确定她的丈夫已经去世，在这种情况下，我认为没有什么比拖延更不受欢迎了……由于它是丝绸的，而且是最新款式，我相信它会令赫维留夫人非常满意，只要她有幸穿上它……

在详细说明了丝绸和制作衣服的费用之后，他请求赫维留寄给他三本约翰·赫维留的书以抵偿费用。1680年3月，赫维留用拉丁文写了一封信，几乎肯定是写给爱德蒙·哈雷的，询问他曾经推荐过的一位医生的名字，这位医生在他们家住时，据说知道一种能治愈关节炎的饮食。人们推测，患关节炎的是约翰·赫维留，他的妻子正在为他寻求治疗方法。

约翰·赫维留于1687年1月去世后，赫维留着手准备将他三部部分完成的书出版。1687年11月，她写信给伦敦的皇家学会，请求协助编辑这些书。看来没有得到任何协助。三部作品中的第一部Stellarum Fixarum，人们认为只需要最少的编辑，于1687年由赫维留出版。她出版的另外两部作品是Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia etc（1690年），包含56张星图，以及Prodromus Astronomiae（1690年），包含1564颗恒星的星表。毫无疑问，除了编辑这些作品外，其中许多内容应归功于她与丈夫共同工作的那些年。

赫维留于1693年12月去世，与她的丈夫葬在同一个墓穴中。她只有46岁。弗朗索瓦·阿拉戈写道：-

人们总是对赫维留夫人说一句赞美的话，据我所知，她是第一位不怕面对进行天文观测和计算之辛劳的女性。

Elisabetha Koopman's parents were Nicholas Kooperman (or Cooperman) (1601-1672) who was a prosperous merchant and Joanna Mennings (or Menninx) (1602-1679). Nicholas and Joanna were married in Amsterdam in 1633. They moved from Amsterdam to Hamburg then, in 1636, they moved to Danzig. It was in this city, largely German speaking but a part of Poland at the time, that their daughter Elisabetha was born.

It was a fascination for astronomy which led Elisabetha, when still only a child, to approach Hevelius, an astronomer of international repute who had a complex of three houses in Danzig which contained the best observatory in the world. Hevelius promised the little girl that he would show her "the wonders of the heavens" when she was older. Hevelius's wife died in March 1662 and some time after this Elisabetha, now aged fifteen, again approached Hevelius and reminded him that he promised to show her the heavens from his observatory when she was older - and now she was fifteen. In fact she had become even more enthusiastic about astronomy as she had grown older and had come more and more to realise what an important figure in the world of astronomy was living in the same city. Hevelke writes, in a text which has a very quaint old fashioned style, that the older she grew [1]:-

... the more she surrounded the figure of the admired scholar with deep and sincere veneration, and with this there mingled a budding love and an imaginative admiration, until she longed to be allowed to serve the great man always, at his mysterious work, carried out in the stillness of the night; to share in his successes and in his renown. And when in the star-lit night she followed with enraptured gaze and beating heart, through his giant telescope, the shining full moon, on her silent path, she exclaimed with enthusiasm "To remain and gaze here always, to be allowed to explore and proclaim with you the wonder of the heavens; that would make me perfectly happy!" And the worthy man felt that it might make him happy too.

So perhaps, it came about. They made the bold experiment, these two so unequal in age. The experiment turned out happily. ... They were betrothed in St Catherine's Church in 1663. The astronomer found in the young, much admired lady, a skilful and untiring, and understanding and loyal helpmate in his observations and labours. Elisabetha may herself have often remembered the words that had so often encouraged her husband: "Nothing is sweeter than to know everything and enthusiasm for all good arts brings, some time or other, excellent reward."

There are several things about Elisabetha that would benefit by further research to make her life more understandable. We know, for example, that she wrote Latin since we have copies of letters she wrote to other scientists in Latin. Hevelius wrote Latin, but one has to say that Elisabetha writes with more style than her husband. The question is, then, when did she learn Latin? It would be extremely unusual if she had learnt it as a child before marrying Hevelius but this must remain a possibility. If she learnt Latin to help her husband, this also would be surprising and one would have to ask quite why the effort of learning Latin would have been a priority for her at that time. However, one of these two scenarios must be the answer. Again we know that she undertook mathematical work, for Arago relates that she did very useful work making observations with Hevelius's instruments and undertook very useful work with mathematical calculations. In this case one might be more certain that she was taught the necessary mathematical skills by Hevelius but again we cannot rule out the possibility that she had some lessons in mathematics as a child.

Elisabetha and Johannes Hevelius married in St Catherine's Church, Danzig, on 3 February 1663. They had one son, who died at the age of one year, and three daughters all of whom later married and had children of their own. The eldest of the three daughters was named Catherina Elisabetha (after her mother) and baptised in St Catherine's Church, Danzig, on 14 February 1666. From the writings of Johann(III) Bernoulli we know that Elisabetha:-

... was taken ill with small-pox and was badly marked by it. Her husband, who had never had this disease, never left her sick-bed and nursed her faithfully ...

This must have occurred shortly before Hevelius died, certainly long after the tragedy which came the way of the family. Their home and observatory were destroyed by fire, possibly deliberately started, on the night of 26 September 1679.

You can read an account of the Hevelius fire.

Hevelius wrote to his patron King Louis XIV of France, explaining what happened that night. The beginning is useful in describing Elisabetha's contributions:-

On the unhappy evening before the fire I felt deeply troubled by unaccustomed fears. To lift my spirits, I persuaded my young wife, the faithful assistant for my nightly observations, to spend the night in our country retreat outside the walls of the city ...

Edmond Halley had visited Hevelius and his wife during the summer of 1679, shortly before their home and observatory were destroyed by fire. Perhaps because of the fire a rumour reached England that Hevelius was dead. Elisabetha must have asked Halley to buy a dress for her in England, for, in October 1679, Halley sent the dress to the secretary of the city of Danzig, writing:-

I quite realise that [Hevelius's] heartbroken spouse must be wearing sad-coloured apparel, yet for several reasons I have thought well to send the gown procured for her ... because I am not yet certain her husband is dead, in which case I judge nothing would be more unwelcome than delay ... since it is of silk and of the newest fashion, I am confident it will highly please Mme Hevelius, if only it should be granted to her to wear it ...

After giving precise details of the cost of the silk and the making of the dress, he requests Elisabetha to send him three copies of Hevelius's books to cover the cost. In March 1680, Elisabetha Hevelius wrote a letter in Latin, almost certainly to Halley, asking for the name of a doctor whom he had recommended, when living in their home, as knowing of a diet that would cure arthritis. One assumes that it is Hevelius who is suffering from arthritis and his wife is seeking a cure for him.

After the death of Hevelius in January 1687, Elisabetha Hevelius went about the task of preparing three of his partly finished books for publication. In November 1687 she wrote to the Royal Society in London, asking for assistance in editing the books. It would appear that no assistance was given. The first of the three works, Stellarum Fixarum, which one assumes only required minimal editing, was published by Elisabetha in 1687. The other two works she published were Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia etc. (1690) which contained 56 star charts, and Prodromus Astronomiae (1690) containing a catalogue of 1564 stars. There is no doubt that, as well as editing these works, much of their contents had been due to her in the years she worked with her husband.

Elisabetha Hevelius died in December 1693 and was buried in the same tomb as her husband. She was only 46 years old. Arago wrote:-

A complimentary remark was always made about Madam Hevelius, who was the first woman, to my knowledge, who was not frightened to face the fatigue of making astronomical observations and calculations.