During the second half of the eighteenth century, Western countries witnessed an explosion of societies and publishing initiatives aimed at creating and disseminating what contemporaries called useful knowledge. These “economic societies,” “societies of friends of the country,” or “societies of improvers” sought to improve their local communities through the scientific management of natural and social resources. This article analyses the opportunities that this movement of patriots opened up for women in chemistry, who went from being “exceptional women” to representing themselves as female “friends of the country.” This article shows the different ways in which these women “friends of the country” negotiated their authorship, agency, and public visibility in order to maintain gender conventions and the importance of their kinship networks. It also illustrates the other side of the coin: how women’s contributions also benefited male scientific societies, which gained visibility and secured the social position of their members in enlightened circles.

在 18 世纪下半叶，西方国家目睹了社会和出版活动的激增，旨在创造和传播同时代人所谓的有用知识。这些“经济社会”、“国家之友协会”或“改善者协会”寻求通过对自然和社会资源的科学管理来改善当地社区。本文分析了这场爱国者运动为化学界女性带来的机会，她们从“杰出女性”转变为女性“国家之友”。本文展示了这些女性“国家之友”以不同的方式协商她们的作者身份、代理权和公众知名度，以维持性别惯例和她们亲属关系网络的重要性。