Hypatia (c. 360–415 CE) was one of the first women to become famous as a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. She lived in Alexandria, the great crossroads of the ancient world, and ran a school where she taught Neoplatonism, geometry, and the mysteries of the stars. Students came from across the Mediterranean to learn from her.
But Alexandria was also a city on fire with religious conflict. Hypatia, a pagan, became a lightning rod. Her brilliance, independence, and influence threatened local Christian leaders. In 415, she was dragged from her chariot by a mob, stripped, and brutally murdered — one of history’s ugliest fates for a scholar.
Why does she matter? Because she became a symbol. Hypatia’s death marked the eclipse of the ancient classical world and the rise of dogma over inquiry. Today she stands as a martyr for science, philosophy, and the right to think freely in the face of fanaticism.