Philosopher · Late antiquity · Egypt

Hypatia

c. 355/370–415

Mathematician, astronomer and Neoplatonist philosopher who taught in Alexandria. Daughter of Theon of Alexandria. Killed by a Christian mob in March 415.

Facts

Born: Between about 355 and 370, Alexandria.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hypatia
Died: March 415, Alexandria, killed by a mob led by a church reader named Peter.; Source: Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book VII, chapter 15
Father: Theon of Alexandria, mathematician and astronomer, editor of Euclid's Elements and commentator on Ptolemy.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hypatia
Student: Synesius of Cyrene, later bishop of Ptolemais. His letters to her are the main contemporary evidence for her teaching.; Source: Synesius of Cyrene, Letters

Images

A philosopher's cloak beside an armillary sphere

Connected

CountryEgypt PhilosopherPlatoc. 428–c. 348 BC

Articles

2026-10-06HypatiaIn the year AD 415, in the ancient city of Alexandria, one of the most respected intellectuals of the Roman world was pulled from her carriage and killed by a violent mob. Her name was Hypatia.Read

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