DWC 100 Women: Jeanne Villepreux-Power, Aquariums

If you’ve ever stood in front of an aquarium, mesmerised by the slow ballet of fish gliding through the water, you’ve quietly witnessed the legacy of Jeanne Villepreux-Power — a woman who refused to let curiosity be confined by her time or her gender.

Born in 1794 in rural France, Jeanne’s life began far from the scientific world she would later revolutionise. Her family was modest, and her education, like most girls of her generation, was limited. But even as a young woman, Jeanne’s mind was sharp and restless. She moved to Paris as a teenager, making her living as a seamstress — and not just any seamstress. Her craftsmanship earned her a reputation among Parisian elites, and her talent soon opened doors that most women of her background would never have crossed.

In 1818, Jeanne married James Power, a British merchant, and together they moved to Sicily. It was there — surrounded by the blue stretch of the Mediterranean — that Jeanne’s life changed course. The sea captured her imagination. What began as fascination quickly grew into serious study. She started documenting marine species, collecting shells, and sketching sea creatures with remarkable accuracy.

At that time, scientific institutions were dominated by men. Women were not permitted to attend universities or join academic societies, and their research was often dismissed or published under male names. But Jeanne’s determination didn’t waver. In 1832, she created something that had never existed before: the aquarium.

Her invention wasn’t a simple fish tank. It was a carefully designed apparatus that allowed her to observe marine life both in captivity and in the open sea. She built three versions — one for her home, one for transport, and one that could be submerged in the ocean to study behaviour in natural conditions. This tool gave her the ability to make groundbreaking discoveries, most famously about the paper nautilus (Argonauta argo).

Before Jeanne, scientists believed the paper nautilus stole its delicate shell from other creatures. Jeanne proved otherwise — that the shell was produced by the animal itself, a finding that challenged long-held assumptions. Her meticulous research earned her recognition across Europe, and she became one of the first female members of several scientific societies, including the Catania Academy and the London Zoological Society.

But Jeanne’s life wasn’t free from hardship. Much of her research material — years of documentation, notes, and specimens — was lost when a ship carrying them to London sank in 1843. The loss devastated her. In an era before backups or reproductions, it meant that a significant part of her life’s work simply vanished beneath the waves she loved. Despite this, she continued writing and corresponding with scientists, determined to keep her discoveries alive through the accounts of others.

There’s little evidence that Jeanne faced direct legal battles, but the institutional barriers she encountered were no less restrictive. Women were often denied intellectual property rights and access to formal scientific credit. Many of her contributions were attributed to male colleagues or described in journals without her name attached. Her “ownership” of the aquarium concept, for example, was not immediately recognised, and her achievements faded from public record for decades.

Outside her scientific pursuits, Jeanne’s life in Sicily was filled with both privilege and isolation. Her husband’s business gave her financial freedom, allowing her to fund her own experiments, but it also meant she lived far from the centres of European science. Letters were her lifeline — long, detailed correspondences with researchers across Europe, through which she shared observations and defended her findings.

Later in life, Jeanne and James moved to England, where she lived quietly until her death in 1871. Her story might have ended there — buried under the tide of forgotten women in science — if not for later historians who rediscovered her work and restored her name to its rightful place in history.

Today, Jeanne Villepreux-Power is recognised not only as the inventor of the aquarium, but as one of the earliest marine biologists and a pioneer for women in science. She bridged art, nature, and invention with a boldness that still feels modern.

She reminds us that discovery doesn’t always start in a laboratory — sometimes it begins with a question, a sketch, or a simple fascination that refuses to fade.

Next time you stand before an aquarium, watching the gentle rhythm of life within, remember the woman who first dreamed of bringing the sea to the surface — not for fame, not for glory, but for the pure love of understanding.

If you could study one mystery of the natural world up close, what would it be?