Theano of Crotone (; ) was a 6th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher. She has been called the wife or student of Pythagoras, although others see her as the wife of Brontinus. Her place of birth and the identity of her father are uncertain as well. Some authors have suggested that there was more than one person whose details have become merged (these are sometimes referred to as Theano I and Theano II). Theano is considered by some to be the first known woman mathematician. She may have worked on The Golden Mean and The Golden Rectangle. Life Little is known about the life of Theano. According to one tradition, she came from Crete and was the daughter of Pythonax, but according to others she came from Crotone and was the daughter of Brontinus. She was said by many to have been the wife of Pythagoras, although another tradition made her the wife of Brontinus. Iamblichus, in an attempt to resolve the confusion, refers to Deino as the wife of Brontinus. The children variously ascribed to Pythagoras and Theano included three daughters, Damo, Myia, and Arignote, and a son, Telauges. Suda writes that her children with Pythagoras were Telauges, Mnesarkhos, Myia and Arignote. Pythagoras opened up a school in Croton in Italy which primarily involved mathematics, philosophy, and nature. It is thought that Pythagoras accepted women and men in his school and at one point achieved 300 students in school while only 28 students were women. As multiple sources indicate, Pythagoras wanted to compete with other schools so he made his school not based on discrimination of genders, which influenced other women to pursue science and astronomy instead of being discriminated. It was also spoken that many men were inspired by the women studying in school. As Pythagoras neared the end of his life, Theano took over as the head of the school with the help of her children. With Theano's life ending, the school still existed, even after 200 years after the deaths of both Theano and Pythagoras. Theano died during the 5th century B.C. and was thought to be buried right by their school. Writings The writings attributed to Theano were: Pythagorean Apophthegms, Female Advice, On Virtue, On Piety, On Pythagoras, Philosophical Commentaries, and Letters. None of these writings have survived except a few fragments and letters of uncertain authorship. Attempts have been made to assign some of these fragments