Louise du Pierry or Dupiery, née Elisabeth Louise Felicité Pourra de la Madeleine[1] (30 July 1746 – 27 February 1807), was a French astronomer and professor.
She was born in La Ferté-Bernard, in the French province of Maine, on 1 August 1746.
[2] Louise du Pierry was a student, and also the mistress, of Jerome de Lalande in 1779.
In 1789, she became the first female professor at the Sorbonne university in Paris as the leader of the Cours d’astronomie ouvert pour les dames et mis à leur portée for female students.
[3] The course was a huge success, despite many student fearing at first the subject matter would be too difficult for women.