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nAnyway, today’s famous birthday is Tycho’s sister!
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![](https://i0.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-SQRR__aHme8/W3n8Xvn_pAI/AAAAAAABkvY/WacV96z44z4cmi8buEu8SLfgIWDFaAY4wCLcBGAs/s1600/220px-Sophie_Brahe_portrait.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
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nAnd since all we know about Ms. Brahe’s death date is the year, 1643, she could have lived anywhere from 83 to 87 years!
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nBut that’s how it goes with old-time histories. Not all historical records last into modern times, and better records were kept for richer people than for poorer people – and possibly better records were kept for men than for women?
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nTycho and Sophie Brahe were born into a noble family. Apparently they were united by two things: (1) their interest in science, and (2) the opposition of their family, who didn’t think it was cool for noble folks to mess around with science!
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nBut even though Tycho bragged in writing about his sister’s keen mind and her gumption in learning, he still didn’t carefully explain exactly how much and in what way she helped him. We do know that she helped at least to some extent with the observations that led to Tycho’s discovery of a supernova and with the observations of a lunar eclipse.
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Sophie Brahe often joined her brother on the island of Hven, where he had an observatory. |
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The Thott estate is now calledTrolleholm Castle. |
nSophie Brahe married a nobleman and had a son. Her husband died about 12 years into their marriage, and Sophie Brahe Thott ran their estate in such a way that it was profitable and noteworthy for its amazing gardens.
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nSophie married again – this time to a scientist nobleman; they apparently lived in poverty, at least partly because the Brahe family, who disapproved of all Sophie’s science, denied them her share of the family fortune. Apparently a newly married Sophie no longer lived on her first husband’s estate – I imagine her son lived there and ran the place? Also, apparently Sophie’s second husband, although noble, was poor.
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nAfter about eleven years of marriage, Sophie Brahe Thott Lange’s second husband died.
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n(Early deaths were not surprising – what WAS surprising was a long life like Sophia’s. And a woman to whom Sophie taught medicine, at some point, lived to be 123 or 124 years! That’s surprising no matter where or when!!)
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nThe last years of Sophie Brahe Thott Lange’s life she spent writing genealogies and histories of Danish noble families. She wrote a 900 page manuscript on the topic – a tome that is still considered a major source of the early history of the Danish aristocracy.
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nAlso on this date:
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugust holidays
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nAugust birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in August
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nSeptember holidays
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nSeptember birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in September
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