Jeanne Dumée (1660 in Paris – 1706) was a French astronomer and the author of an astronomical text, Entretiens sur l’opinion de Copernic touchant la mobilité de la terre (Conversations on Copernicus’ Opinion on the Movement of the Earth).
[1] She married young and became a widow at age 17, when her husband died in battle in Germany at the head of a company he commanded.
Men were typically the heads of the households, with the women either staying at home or needing their husbands’ permission before going out to work.
For example, Maria Cunitz from Germany was a published author as well as an astronomer, and was incredibly famous for her works in her field.
She wrote Urania propitia in which she provided new ephemera, a more “elegant” solution to Kepler’s problem, and new tables.
The manuscript supported Copernican and Galilean theories on earth's movement, and the purpose of her writing was to discuss the reasons Copernicus himself used to defend his doctrines.
[1][6] She also wrote on her observations of Venus and moons of Jupiter, which proved Copernicus and Galileo's theories.
"[8] She wrote that women of her time considered themselves incapable of study, and explained that she hoped her own example would convince them that there is no difference between the brain of a woman and that of a man.