Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794-1871) was a self taught marine biologist, conservationist, and one of the most esteemed naturalists of her time.
Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794-1871) was a self taught marine biologist, conservationist, and one of the most esteemed naturalists of her time.
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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Born in France during the French revolution, this inventor captured the energy of revolution in her aquatic inventions and discoveries. She was a self taught marine biologist, conservationist, and one of the most esteemed naturalists of her time. Ever been amazed by seeing aquatic life up close a the aquarium?
If so, then you owe a big thank you to Jeanne Villepreux-Power, the mother of aquaria.
Jeanne Villepreux-Power was born in Juillac, a village tucked deep in the French countryside, to a shoemaker and a seamstress.
As the eldest child, Jeanne was the only one of her siblings who received any formal education, though she could only read and write. She did, however, learn the family business of dressmaking. When Jeanne was 18 years old, she walked 250 miles to Paris to become a dressmaker. She was accompanied by her cousin, who was taking a herd of cows to a slaughterhouse in Paris.
Along the way, however, Jeanne’s cousin assaulted her. She took refuge in a police station in Orléans, delaying her arrival.When she finally got to Paris, the job she had been promised had already been taken. Jeanne managed to find another position, this time as an assistant to a seamstress making dresses for wealthy society women.
In 1816, she found fame when she designed the wedding gown for Princess Caroline, the future Duchesse of Berry. That experience brought her in contact with an English merchant, James Power. In 1818, the two married and moved to Messina, Sicily where they lived for about 25 years.
It was after moving to Sicily that Jeanne became interested in natural history. She began traveling around Sicily recording and describing its flora and fauna, collecting specimens of minerals, fossils, and butterflies… But it was aquatic life that really sparked Jeanne’s passion. In order to study underwater creatures more closely, she invented three different types of aquariums. She called them “power cages.” The first was similar to a modern day aquarium; the second, a glass structure placed within a cage to be used in shallow water. The third was a cage-like aquarium capable of being lowered to various depths.
Jeanne’s aquariums changed the game when it came to both research and conservation efforts. They allowed scientists a glimpse into a world that had previously been out of reach.
Using her own aquarium inventions, Jeanne began intensely studying the Argonauta argo, a species that looks like a cross between an octopus and a hermit crab.
In 1839, she published her first book, Physical Observations and Experiments on Several Marine and Terrestrial Animals, which recorded her work with argonaut and other animals. Jeanne wrote about her discovery that the shell of argonaut was produced by the animal itself and not acquired – which was the prevailing opinion at that time –. She raised young argonauts, and experimented with the animal’s regeneration of their broken shell from shell pieces.
Her publication about the argonaut was greeted with much excitement, since Jeanne was already something of a celebrity within the scientific world. She was even dubbed the “mother of Aquaria.”
In 1843, Jeanne and her husband decided to leave Sicily. On the journey back to London, most of her marine collections, written records, and other scientific materials were, ironically, lost in a shipwreck. Jeanne was heartbroken, and stopped her experiments, though she continued to write and speak publicly.
Jeanne split her time between London and Paris until Paris fell under siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Jeanne escaped and found a retreat in her native village, Juillac, where she died in 1871.
Sadly, Jeanne’s work was forgotten for more than a century after her death. But in 1997, she and her work was rediscovered. That same year, Jeanne's name was given to a major crater on Venus discovered by the Magellan probe.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Jenny and Liz Kaplan.
All month, we’ve honored Innovators. Tune in tomorrow for the beginning of a new theme.
Talk to you tomorrow!