Diderot soon gave her the sobriquet of "Sophie", after the Greek word meaning "wisdom", because he valued her insights so much as a friend and a frequent correspondent.
[1] Sophie was regularly informed by Diderot about events, artists, and writers of the time.
She was unmarried and had a difficult relationship with her mother, with whom she had to reside in Isle for six months of every year away from Diderot, though she would have preferred to live in Paris and be near him at all times.
He numbered all his letters to her, in an attempt ensure they could be read and understood in order due to the unreliable delivery methods he had to use in conveying them to her.
The only concrete details known about her are that she wore glasses, was often in poor health, and had la menotte sèche (small, dry hands) but that she was apparently very intellectually curious and capable, studying both science and philosophy, for which Diderot admired her very much[citation needed].