The role of women and their horizons as well as their personal liberties have changed considerably through the ages. Everyone knows that.
Yet not everyone knows about the women who made their mark or transcended the usual boundaries of the "women's world“ - or about their unusually supportive parents or spouses, for that matter.
One such woman, practically forgotten by now, was Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (Venice, June 5, 1646 – July 26, 1684), the pride of 17th century Venice.
A Child Like No Other
The circumstances of Elena's birth were in themselves out of the ordinary. She was born out of wedlock, to a nobleman from a very prominent Venetian family (and future Procurator of the Republic of St Mark's), Giovanni Battista Cornaro-Piscopia, and Zanetta (Giovanna) Boni, a woman of plebeian extraction. But her parents were living together at the time of her birth and eventually, in 1654, married.
Little Elena soon attracted the attention of adults by her unusually precocious intelligence and quick learning. Notably, the learned parish priest, impressed by the child's talents, encouraged her father to nurture her extraordinary mind. By the age of seven, Elena was studying not only grammar and music but also classical Greek and Latin; in addition, she mastered French, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic, which earned her the nickname „the seven-language oracle“ (Oraculum septilingue, in Latin).
As she grew up, she expanded her learning to the natural sciences, becoming especially proficient at astronomy, physics and mathematics. But it was dialectics, philosophy and theology that Elena particularly liked. She was also a talented musician, playing four instruments and composing her own pieces.
The First Woman to Earn a University Degree
In view of her prodigious talents, her father decided to make an unprecedented move: he sent her to the University of Padua, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world, to have her knowledge examined and properly acknowledged by some of the most learned professors of the time.
At the insistence of her father and teachers, the frail Elena - who, it seems, was somewhat reluctant to pursue academic honours, being more interested in knowledge itself - applied for a doctorate (PhD) in theology and philosophy. That was unheard of – and her request was initially declined. (In fact, women in general were not allowed to obtain a degree in Theology until the 20th century.)
She applied for the second time; and it is a measure of her extraordinary accomplishment and reputation that this time she was allowed to be examined - albeit in philosophy "only", not in theology, even though the distinction between the two was, at the time, still very much blurred and it would be impossible to obtain a degree in philosophy without a thorough and comprehensive discussion of theology.
Almost 400 years would have to pass before any other woman was granted the same privilege.
Thus, June 25, 1678, proved to be a great day in the academic history of Europe: on that day, at the age of 32, Elena Cornaro Piscopia was granted a doctorate in Philosophy by the University of Padua, making her the first woman in the world to receive a university degree.
Her examination had stirred such an interest that the venue had to be changed: to accommodate the crowds of students and learned individuals who came from far and wide to witness the historic event, the examination did not take place in the Great hall of the university, as usual, but rather in the more spacious cathedral of the Blessed Virgin in Padua. Contemporary accounts and the additional academic honours bestowed upon her – unsought by her - are testimony to the truly unprecedented scope of her knowledge.
Upon receiving her degree, Elena was granted perhaps the highest honour of all: she was named professor of Mathematics at the university of Padua.
Who Needs Marriage?
However, by then, Elena - known simply and affectionately as „La Cornaro“ to her fellow Venetians - had been an international celebrity for a long time, pursued and honoured by crowned heads, such as Louis XIV (The „Sun King“) of France and the king of Spain, and noblemen from far and wide. She received many proposals of marriage – in fact, at the age of eighteen she had been betrothed without her knowledge, by her parents. But the marriage never took place. Unbeknownst to her parents, Elena had made a secret chastity vow at the tender age of eleven, started living an ascetic life very early on, and at age eighteen she became a Benedictine oblate (a lay person dedicated to living in accordance with a chosen monastic rule).
But while she was admired for her talents by the most learned men of her age, Elena was cherished by the poor and the sick of Venice, for whom she had expressed concern and tender care from an early age. And she knew all about illness from her own experience: she had been sickly, especially prone to fevers, from childhood; and it soon turned out she was fatally afflicted by consumption (tuberculosis).
On July 26, 1684 - six years, a month and a day after that grand day in the Padua cathedral – Elena Cornaro Piscopia died, aged 38. As she had requested, she was buried in the church of Santa Giustina, in Padua.
After Elena's death, her collected works were published in Parma, and as early as 1689 a biography – tellingly called Eroina Veneta (“A Venetian Heroine”) - was published by Antonio Lupis in Venice.
REFERENCES
- Jane Howard Guernsey, The Lady Cornaro: Pride and Prodigy of Venice,1999.
- Francesco Ludovico Maschietto, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646 - 1684): the First Woman in the World to Earn a University degree, Saint Joseph's University Press, 2007
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