Elena Cornaro Piscopia

Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born in the Palazzo Loredan, in Venice, Republic of Venice, on 5 June 1646. Of Albanian Heritage, 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.{{harvnb|Guernsey|1999}}.{{cite web|last=Gregersen|first=Erik|title=Elena Cornaro|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1759989/Elena-Cornaro|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc|access-date=17 April 2014}}

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.{{harvnb|Guernsey|1999}}, ch. 1. 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.Maschietto 2007, cited in {{cite journal |last1=Findlen |first1=Paula |title=[Review] Francesco Ludovico Maschietto. Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |date=20 November 2018 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=878–879 |doi=10.1353/ren.0.0207|s2cid=191474641 }}

In 1665 she took the habit of a Benedictine oblate without, however, becoming a nun.

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.

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.

In 1669 she translated the Colloquy of Christ by Carthusian monk Lanspergius from Spanish into Italian.{{efn|Lanspergius' Latin original had been translated into Spanish by {{ill|Andreu Capella|ca}}, the Bishop of Urgell.}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/delleaccademieve00batt |page=[https://archive.org/details/delleaccademieve00batt/page/50 50] |title=Delle accademie veneziane dissertazione storica di Michele Battagia|last=Battagia|first=Michele|date=1826|publisher=Giuseppe Picotti's typography|language=it}}{{harvnb|Guernsey|1999|page=101}}, ch. 8.

File:Cornaro Window.jpg's window depicting Cornaro's conferral.]]

On the recommendation of Carlo Rinaldini, her tutor in philosophy, Felice Rotondi petitioned the University of Padua to grant Cornaro the laurea{{efn|At the time the laurea was the only degree awarded by Italian universities.}} in theology.{{cite web|title=Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia|url=http://www.unipd.it/elena-lucrezia-cornaro-piscopia|publisher=Università degli studi di Padova|access-date=22 January 2016|language=it|date=10 September 2015}} 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. However he did allow her to study for a degree in philosophy and after a course of study she received the laurea in Philosophy. 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. 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 {{lang|la|Magistra et Doctrix Philosophiae}} [teacher and doctor of philosophy],Maschietto 2007, pp. 73, 74, 188 thus becoming one of the first women to receive an academic degree from a university,{{cite book|author=Paul F. Grendler|title=Schools, Seminaries, and Catechetical Instruction, in Catholicism in Early Modern History 1500–1700: A Guide to Research|editor=John W. O'Malley|publisher=Center for Information Research|year=1988|page=328}}{{efn|Constance Calenda ({{fl|1415}}) may have received a medical degree from the University of Naples.{{cite book |last1=Whaley |first1=L. |title=Women and the Practice of Medical Care in Early Modern Europe, 1400–1800 |date=2011 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0230295179 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RiJ-DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |access-date=6 June 2019 |language=en}} Juliana Morell "defended theses" in 1606 or 1607, although claims that she received a doctorate in canon law in 1608 have been discredited.{{Cite journal |last=Morley |first=S. Griswold |date=January 1941 |title=Juliana Morell: Problems |jstor=469691 |journal=Hispanic Review|volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=137–150 |doi=10.2307/469691}}; {{cite journal |last1=Morley |first1=S. Griswold |date=July 1941 |title=Juliana Morell: Postscript |journal=Hispanic Review |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=399–402 |doi=10.2307/469606 |jstor=469606 |issn=0018-2176}} The putative 13th-century instance of Bittizia Gozzadini at the University of Bologna is discounted by Holt N. Parker.{{cite book |last1=Morata |first1=Olympia |editor1-last=Parker |editor1-first=Holt N. |title=The Complete Writings of an Italian Heretic |date=2007 |series=The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe |volume=52 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226536712 |page=30, fn.155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IofdOGER4v0C&q=%22Bittizia%20Gozzadini%22&pg=PA30 |access-date=6 June 2019 |language=en}}}}.

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.{{Cite book |last=Frize |first=Monique |chapter=Famous Women in Science in Laura Bassi's Epoch |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38685-5_10 |date=2013 |title=Laura Bassi and Science in 18th Century Europe: The Extraordinary Life and Role of Italy's Pioneering Female Professor |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-38685-5 |editor-last=Frize |editor-first=Monique |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |pages=142 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-38685-5_10 |access-date=2023-05-15}}

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.Maschietto 2007 p. 79 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.{{cite book |last1=de Simone |first1=Maria Rosa |editor1-last=Ridder-Symoens |editor1-first=Hilde de |editor2-last=Rüegg |editor2-first=Walter |title=Universities in Early Modern Europe (1500–1800) |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521541145 |pages=296–297 |volume=2 |series=A History of the University in Europe|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHMjzvAxHF0C&pg=PA296 |access-date=13 June 2019 |language=en |chapter=Admissions |via=Google Books}}

Cornaro's death was marked by memorial services in Venice, Padua, Siena and Rome. The {{ill|Accademia degli Infecondi|it}} published two memorial volumes of tributes by members: one to mark her degree,{{cite book |title=Applausi accademici alla laurea filosofica dell'illustrissima signora Elena Lucrezia Cornara Piscopia Accademica Infeconda composti, e raccolti dall'Accademia stessa |date=1679 |publisher=Giacomo Dragondelli |location=Rome |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_k71SmCryjpwC |access-date=5 June 2019 |language=it}} and the other her death.{{cite book |last1=Cassioni |first1=Giovanni Francesco |last2=Cardano |first2=Tommaso |last3=Cadorin |first3=Matteo |title=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. |language=it |date=1686 |publisher=il Cadorino |location=Padua |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t6640853p&view=thumb&seq=5 |via=Hathi Trust |access-date=5 June 2019}} Padua's Accademia dei Ricovrati also produced a volume at her death.{{cite book |author1=Accademia dei Ricovrati |title=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 |date=1684 |publisher=Pietro Maria Frambotto |location=Padua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZe6dJh-Y_kC&pg=PP11 |access-date=6 June 2019 |language=it}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Forbush |first1=Gabrielle E. |title=The Lady of the Window |journal=Vassar Quarterly |date=1 January 1976 |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=24–28 |url=https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=vq19760101-01.2.10}} 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. On 5 June 2019, Google celebrated her 373rd birthday with a Google Doodle.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/elena-cornaro-piscopia-google-doodle-phd-who-death-university-degree-venice-italy-a8944116.html|title=Five things you should know about the first woman to receive a PhD|last=Ritschel|first=Chelsea|date=4 June 2019|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=4 June 2019}}{{efn|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.{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/elena-cornaro-piscopias-373rd-birthday/|title=Elena Cornaro Piscopia's 373rd Birthday|date=5 June 2019|access-date=5 June 2019}}}}

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.Helenae Lucretiae (quae et Scholastica) Corneliae Piscopiae … Opera quae quidem haberi potuerunt … (Parma, 1688)

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 a statue of the scientist already exists elsewhere on the university campus.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/03/italy-proposal-statue-elena-cornaro-piscopia-first-woman-phd-debate|title= Italy: proposal for statue of first woman to get PhD sparks debate|website= TheGuardian.com|date=3 Jan 2022|access-date=14 April 2022}}

The Piscopia Initiative, named after Cornaro, was founded in Edinburgh in 2019 to tackle the participation crisis of women and non-binary people in mathematics research in the United Kingdom. The Piscopia Initiative encourages women and non-binary students to pursue a PhD in mathematics. As of 2023, it has local committees at 19 UK universities and 250 members ranking from undergraduates to Professors.{{cite web|url=https://piscopia.co.uk/about/|title=The Piscopia Initiative (About)|website= The Piscopia Initiative|date=6 Oct 2023|access-date=26 September 2024}}

Her writings include academic discourses, translations and devotional treatises.

;Collected:

• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfFmAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP13 |title=Helenae Lucretiae Corneliae Piscopiae opera quae quidem haberi potuerunt |location=Parma |publisher=Rosati |date=1688 |language=it, la |via=Google Books |editor-link=Benedetto Bacchini |editor-first=Benedetto |editor-last=Bacchini}}

;Previously published:

• {{cite book |title=Lettera overo colloquio di Christo N. R. all'anima devota composta dal R. P. D. Giovanni Laspergio in lingua spagnola e portata nell'italiana |location=Venice |publisher=Giuliani |date=1669 }} (reprinted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfFmAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA179 Bacchini ed. 1688 pp. 179–183])

;Unpublished:

• A 1672 discourse on Our Lady of SorrowsMaschietto 2007, cited in {{cite journal |last1=King |first1=Margaret L.|author1-link=Margaret L. King |title=Review of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree |jstor=27745551 |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |date=2009 |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=355–357 |issn=0008-8080}}

• {{cite book |last1=Deza |first1=Massimiliano |title=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 |date=1686 |publisher=Antonio Bosio |location=Venice |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_C4UWVV_k0eEC/page/n4 |access-date=5 June 2019 |language=it}}
• Benedetto Bacchini (1688) Actorem Helenæ (in Latin; [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfFmAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1 Bacchini ed. 1688 pp. 1–48])
• {{cite book |last1=Lupis |first1=Antonio |author-link1= Antonio Lupis|last2=Vendramina |first2=Caterina |title=L'eroina Venetia, ouero, La vita di Elena Lucretia Cornara Piscopia |date=1689 |publisher=Curti |location=Venice |oclc=991386840 |language=it}}
• {{cite book |last1=Pynsent|first1=Mathilde |title=The Life of Helen Lucretia Cornaro Piscopia, Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict and Doctor in the University of Padua |date=1896 |publisher=St. Benedict's |language=en}}
• {{cite book |last1=Fusco |first1=Nicola |title=Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, 1646–1684 |url=https://archive.org/details/elenalucreziacor0000fusc |url-access=registration |date=1975 |publisher=United States Committee for the Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia Tercentenary |language=en}}
• {{cite book |last1=Maschietto |first1=Francesco Ludovico |title=Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, 1646–1684: prima donna laureata nel mondo |date=1978 |publisher=Antenore |location=Padua |language=it |series=Contributi alla storia dell'Università di Padova |volume=10}}
• {{cite book |last1=Maschietto |first1=Francesco Ludovico |translator1-last=Vairo |translator1-first=Jan |translator2-last=Crochetiere |translator2-first=William |editor-first=Catherine |editor-last=Marshal |title=Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684): The First Woman in the World to Earn a University Degree |date=2007 |publisher=Saint Joseph's University Press |isbn=978-0916101572 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyFlAAAAMAAJ |access-date=5 June 2019 |language=en}}
• {{cite book |last1=Tonzig |first1=Maria Ildegarde |title=Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia: prima donna laureata nel mondo. Terzo centenario del dottorato (1678–1978) |date=1980 |publisher=V. Gualandi |language=it}}
• {{cite book |last1=Guernsey |first1=Jane Howard |title=The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice |date=1999 |publisher=College Avenue Press |isbn=978-1883551445 |language=en |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ladycornaropride00guer |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last1=Carrano |first1=Patrizia |title=Illuminata. La storia di Elena Lucrezia Cornaro, prima donna laureata nel mondo |date=2001 |publisher=Mondadori |isbn=978-8804490906 |language=it}}
• {{cite book |last1=Pighetti |first1=Clelia |title=Il vuoto e la quiete: scienza e mistica nel '600 : Elena Cornaro e Carlo Rinaldini |date=2005 |publisher=FrancoAngeli |isbn=978-8846463333 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2sqe40XeZ94C |access-date=5 June 2019 |language=it}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web|title=Corner, Elena Lucrezia|first=Renzo|last=Derosas|year=1983|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/elena-lucrezia-corner_(Dizionario_Biografico)/|publisher=Treccani|work=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|language=it|access-date = 22 January 2016}}
• {{cite book|last=Guernsey|first=Jane Howard|title=The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice|url=https://archive.org/details/ladycornaropride00guer|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=College Avenue Press|isbn=9781883551445}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704054850/http://library.vassar.edu/about/cornaro.html Vassar College Library Website]

{{Portal|History of science}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia|Elena Cornaro Piscopia}}
• [http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/piscopia.htm "Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia", Biographies of Women Mathematicians], Agnes Scott College
• [http://www.projectcontinua.org/elena-lucrezia-cornaro/ Project Continua: Biography of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornaro Piscopia, Elena}}

Category:1646 births

Category:1684 deaths

Category:17th-century deaths from tuberculosis

Category:Women mathematicians

Category:Christian Hebraists

Category:University of Padua alumni

Category:17th-century Venetian writers

Category:Benedictine oblates

Category:17th-century Italian philosophers

Category:Italian scholars of ancient Greek philosophy

Category:Italian women philosophers

Category:17th-century Italian mathematicians

Category:17th-century Italian women

Category:17th-century women scientists

Elena

Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Italy

Category:Italian people of Arbëreshë descent

Category:Women's firsts

Category:Scholars from the Republic of Venice