Descartés

Francine Descartes (19 July 1635, Deventer – 7 September 1640, Amersfoort) was René Descartes's daughter.

Life Francine was the daughter of Helena Jans van der Strom, a domestic servant of Thomas Sergeant — a bookshop owner and associate of Descartes at whose house in Amsterdam Descartes lodged on 15 October 1634. When Descartes moved back from Amsterdam to Deventer the following winter, Helena went with him. Although Francine was referred to as an illegitimate child, her baptism in Deventer on 7 August 1635, was recorded among the legitimate births. Helena officially remained Descartes' servant, and René referred to Francine as his niece, but both were included in his life. In 1640 Descartes wrote that he would bring his daughter to France to learn the language and be educated, but before that could happen, Francine died of scarlet fever at the age of five. Russell Shorto postulated that the experience of fatherhood and losing a child formed a turning point in Descartes' work, changing its focus from medicine to a quest for universal answers.

In popular culture

Francine's family was the subject of a 2016 novel by Guinevere Glasfurd, Words in My Hand.