Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born in the
Palazzo Loredan, in
Venice,
Republic of Venice, on 5 June 1646. She was the third child of Gianbattista Cornaro-Piscopia and his mistress Zanetta Boni. Her mother was a peasant and her parents were not married at the time of her birth.[4][5]
In 1664 Elena’s father was chosen to become the
Procuratore di San Marco de supra, the treasurer of
St Mark's Cathedral, a coveted position among
Venetian nobility. That made Gianbattista second only to the
Doge of Venice in terms of precedence.[6] Because of this connection Lady Elena was prominent in the
Marriage of the Sea celebration, even though she was born illegitimate. Her father tried to arrange betrothals for her several times but she rebuffed each man's advances. Early biographers' suggestion that she took a
vow of chastity at age 11 is disputed by Francesco Ludovico Maschietto.[7]
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
Latin and
Greek under distinguished instructors and became proficient in those languages, as well as
French and
Spanish, by the age of seven.[4]
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 [
it], 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
Carthusian monk
Lanspergius from Spanish into Italian.[c] The translation was dedicated to
Gian Paolo Oliva, her close friend and
confessor. The volume was issued in five editions in the Republic from 1669 to 1672. She was invited to be a part of many scholarly societies when her fame spread and in 1670 she became president of the Venetian society Accademia dei Pacifici.[8][9]
On the recommendation of Carlo Rinaldini, her tutor in philosophy, Felice Rotondi petitioned the
University of Padua to grant Cornaro the laurea[d] in theology.[10] When Cardinal
Gregorio Barbarigo, the bishop of Padua, learned that she was pursuing a degree in theology, he refused on the grounds that she was a woman.[10] However he did allow her to study for a degree in philosophy and after a course of study she received the laurea in Philosophy.[10] The degree was conferred on 25 June 1678 in
Padua Cathedral in the presence of the university authorities, the professors of all the faculties, the students and most of the
Venetian Senators, together with many guests from the Universities of
Bologna,
Perugia,
Rome and
Naples. Lady Elena spoke for an hour in Classical Latin, explaining difficult passages selected at random from the works of
Aristotle: one from the Posterior Analytics and the other from the Physics.[11] She was listened to with great attention and when she had finished she received plaudits as Professor Rinaldini proceeded to award her the insignia of the laurea: a book of philosophy, a
laurel wreath on her head, a ring on her finger and over her shoulders an ermine
mozzetta. She was proclaimed Magistra et Doctrix Philosophiae [teacher and doctor of philosophy],[12] thus becoming
one of the first women to receive an
academic degree from a university,[13][e].
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,
Siena and Rome. The
Accademia degli Infecondi [
it] published two memorial volumes of tributes by members: one to mark her degree,[20] and the other her death.[21] Padua's
Accademia dei Ricovrati also produced a volume at her death.[22]
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]
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.
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)
Lupis, Antonio; Vendramina, Caterina (1689). L'eroina Venetia, ouero, La vita di Elena Lucretia Cornara Piscopia (in Italian). Venice: Curti.
OCLC991386840.
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.
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.
Tonzig, Maria Ildegarde (1980). Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia: prima donna laureata nel mondo. Terzo centenario del dottorato (1678–1978) (in Italian). V. Gualandi.
^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.
^Maschietto 2007, cited in Findlen, Paula (20 November 2018). "[Review] Francesco Ludovico Maschietto. Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree". Renaissance Quarterly. 61 (3): 878–879.
doi:
10.1353/ren.0.0207.
S2CID191474641.
^
abMaschietto 2007, cited in
King, Margaret L. (2009). "Review of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree". The Catholic Historical Review. 95 (2): 355–357.
ISSN0008-8080.
JSTOR27745551.
^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.
^de Simone, Maria Rosa (2003).
"Admissions". In Ridder-Symoens, Hilde de; Rüegg, Walter (eds.). Universities in Early Modern Europe (1500–1800). A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. pp. 296–297.
ISBN978-0521541145. Retrieved 13 June 2019 – via Google Books.