Elena Cornaro Piscopia
Elena Cornaro Piscopia | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 26 July 1684 | (aged 38)
Resting place | Church of Santa Giustina |
Known for | One of the first women to receive a degree from a university |
Philosophy career | |
Alma mater | University of Padua |
Academic advisors | Carlo Rinaldini (philosophy) Felice Rotondi (theology) |
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (
Early life
Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born in the
In 1664 Elena’s father was chosen to become the
In 1665 she took the
Education
As a young girl Lady Elena was seen as a prodigy. On the advice of Giovanni Fabris, a priest who was a friend of the family, she began a classical education. She studied
Elena came to be an expert musician, mastering the harpsichord, the clavichord, the harp and the violin. Her skills were shown by the music that she composed in her lifetime. In her late teens and early twenties, she became interested in physics, astronomy and linguistics. Carlo Rinaldini , her tutor in philosophy and at that point, the Chairman of Philosophy at the University of Padua, published a book in 1668 written in Latin and centred on geometry. The book was dedicated to a twenty-two-year-old Elena. After the death of her main tutor, Fabris, she became even closer to Rinaldini, who took over her studies.[4]
Career
In 1669 she translated the Colloquy of Christ by
On the recommendation of Carlo Rinaldini, her tutor in philosophy, Felice Rotondi petitioned the
The last seven years of her life were devoted to study and charity. She died in Padua in 1684 of tuberculosis and was buried in the church of Santa Giustina.[17]
Legacy
A few months after Elena's conferral, Charles Patin, lecturer in medicine at Padua, applied for his daughter Gabrielle-Charlotte [Carla Gabriella] Patin to begin a degree.[18] The university, supported by Gianbattista Cornaro-Piscopia, changed its statutes to prohibit women from graduating. The next female doctorate was granted by the University of Bologna in 1732 to Laura Bassi.[19]
Cornaro's death was marked by memorial services in Venice, Padua,
In 1895 Abbess Mathilda Pynsent of the English Benedictine Nuns in Rome had Cornaro's tomb opened, the remains placed in a new casket, and a suitable tablet inscribed to her memory. Her graduation ceremony is depicted in the Cornaro Window, installed in 1906 in the West Wing of the Thompson Memorial Library at Vassar College.[23] At the suggestion of Ruth Crawford Mitchell, Cornaro is depicted in Giovanni Romagnoli's 1949 mural in the Italian Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh.[23] On 5 June 2019, Google celebrated her 373rd birthday with a Google Doodle.[24][f]
Earlier biographies of Elena Cornaro include Massimiliano Dezza's Vita di Helena Lucretia Cornara Piscopia (Venice: Bosio, 1686) and Antonio Lupis' L'eroina veneta (Venice: Curti, 1689). Her collected works, with a biography, were published four years after her death by Benedetto Bacchini.[26] Her most recent English language biography is The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice by Jane H. Guernsey (College Avenue Press, 1999).[ISBN missing]
In 2022, the Italian authorities refused to add her statue to the 78 statues of famous male scientists in Prato della Valle in Padua, arguing that the statue of the scientist already exists somewhere on the university campus.[27]
Bibliography
Works
Her writings include academic discourses, translations and devotional treatises.
- Collected
- Bacchini, Benedetto, ed. (1688). Helenae Lucretiae Corneliae Piscopiae opera quae quidem haberi potuerunt (in Italian and Latin). Parma: Rosati – via Google Books.
- Previously published
- Lettera overo colloquio di Christo N. R. all'anima devota composta dal R. P. D. Giovanni Laspergio in lingua spagnola e portata nell'italiana. Venice: Giuliani. 1669. (reprinted in Bacchini ed. 1688 pp. 179–183)
- Unpublished
- A 1672 discourse on Our Lady of Sorrows[11]
Biographies
- Deza, Massimiliano (1686). Vita di Helena Lucretia Cornara Piscopia descritta da Massimiliano Deza della Congregazione della Santissima Madre di Dio, e dedicata alla maestà dell'aug.ma imperatrice Eleonora principessa di Monferrato, &c (in Italian). Venice: Antonio Bosio. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- Benedetto Bacchini (1688) Actorem Helenæ (in Latin; Bacchini ed. 1688 pp. 1–48)
- OCLC 991386840.
- Pynsent, Mathilde (1896). The Life of Helen Lucretia Cornaro Piscopia, Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict and Doctor in the University of Padua. St. Benedict's.
- Fusco, Nicola (1975). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, 1646–1684. United States Committee for the Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia Tercentenary.
- Maschietto, Francesco Ludovico (1978). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, 1646–1684: prima donna laureata nel mondo. Contributi alla storia dell'Università di Padova (in Italian). Vol. 10. Padua: Antenore.
- Maschietto, Francesco Ludovico (2007). Marshal, Catherine (ed.). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree. Translated by Vairo, Jan; Crochetiere, William. Saint Joseph's University Press. ISBN 978-0916101572. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- Maschietto, Francesco Ludovico (2007). Marshal, Catherine (ed.). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree. Translated by Vairo, Jan; Crochetiere, William. Saint Joseph's University Press.
- Tonzig, Maria Ildegarde (1980). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia: prima donna laureata nel mondo. Terzo centenario del dottorato (1678–1978) (in Italian). V. Gualandi.
- Guernsey, Jane Howard (1999). The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice. College Avenue Press. ISBN 978-1883551445.
- Carrano, Patrizia (2001). Illuminata. La storia di Elena Lucrezia Cornaro, prima donna laureata nel mondo (in Italian). Mondadori. ISBN 978-8804490906.
- Pighetti, Clelia (2005). Il vuoto e la quiete: scienza e mistica nel '600 : Elena Cornaro e Carlo Rinaldini (in Italian). FrancoAngeli. ISBN 978-8846463333. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
Notes
- ^ The Republic did not fall until 1797.[1]
- ^ Padua was annexed to the Republic of Venice in 1405 and was a part of the Republic's territories on the mainland until its fall in 1797.[2]
- Bishop of Urgell.
- ^ At the time the laurea was the only degree awarded by Italian universities.
- Bittizia Gozzadini at the University of Bologna is discounted by Holt N. Parker.[16]
- ^ Doodle was shown in Italy, Greece, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, UK, Iceland, Russia, Israel, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina.[25]
References
Citations
- ^ Logan, Oliver (1972). Culture and society in Venice, 1470–1790: the Renaissance and its heritage. Batsford.
- ^ J. J. Norwich. A History of Venice. p. 269.
- ^ "Cornaro Piscopia, Elena Lucrezia". Lexico US English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d Guernsey 1999.
- ^ Gregersen, Erik. "Elena Cornaro". Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Guernsey 1999, ch. 1.
- S2CID 191474641.
- ^ Battagia, Michele (1826). Delle accademie veneziane dissertazione storica di Michele Battagia (in Italian). Giuseppe Picotti's typography. p. 50.
- ^ Guernsey 1999, p. 101, ch. 8.
- ^ a b c "Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia" (in Italian). Università degli studi di Padova. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ JSTOR 27745551.
- ^ Maschietto 2007, pp. 73, 74, 188
- ^ Paul F. Grendler (1988). John W. O'Malley (ed.). Schools, Seminaries, and Catechetical Instruction, in Catholicism in Early Modern History 1500–1700: A Guide to Research. Center for Information Research. p. 328.
- ISBN 978-0230295179. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- JSTOR 469606.
- ISBN 978-0226536712. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- )
- ^ Maschietto 2007 p. 79
- ISBN 978-0521541145. Retrieved 13 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Applausi accademici alla laurea filosofica dell'illustrissima signora Elena Lucrezia Cornara Piscopia Accademica Infeconda composti, e raccolti dall'Accademia stessa (in Italian). Rome: Giacomo Dragondelli. 1679. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ Cassioni, Giovanni Francesco; Cardano, Tommaso; Cadorin, Matteo (1686). Le pompe funebri celebrate da' signori Accademici infecondi di Roma per la morte dell'illustrissima signora Elena Lucrezia Cornara Piscopia accademica detta l'inalterabile: dedicate all sereniss. republica di Venezia (in Italian). Padua: il Cadorino. Retrieved 5 June 2019 – via Hathi Trust.
- ^ Accademia dei Ricovrati (1684). Compositioni degli Academici Ricourati per la morte della nob. d. signora Elena Lucretia Cornaro Piscopia dedicate all'eccellenza del signor Gio. Battista suo padre procurator di s. Marco, dal co. Alessandro abb. De lazara principe dell'Academia (in Italian). Padua: Pietro Maria Frambotto. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ a b Forbush, Gabrielle E. (1 January 1976). "The Lady of the Window". Vassar Quarterly. 72 (2): 24–28.
- ^ Ritschel, Chelsea (4 June 2019). "Five things you should know about the first woman to receive a PhD". The Independent. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Elena Cornaro Piscopia's 373rd Birthday". 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ Helenae Lucretiae (quae et Scholastica) Corneliae Piscopiae … Opera quae quidem haberi potuerunt … (Parma, 1688)
- TheGuardian.com. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
Sources
- Derosas, Renzo (1983). "Corner, Elena Lucrezia". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Treccani. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- Guernsey, Jane Howard (1999). The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice. College Avenue Press. ISBN 9781883551445.
- Vassar College Library Website
External links
- Media related to Elena Cornaro Piscopia at Wikimedia Commons
- "Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia", Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Agnes Scott College
- Project Continua: Biography of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro