Elena Lucrezia Corner (or Cornaro), born a Venice in 1646 and died in Padua in 1684, it was an Italian erudite, famous because it obtained the Degree in Philosophy in 1678. Daughter of an aristocratic father and a mother of humble origins, Elena Lucrezia could study with some of the best masters of her time. In 1678, after a long controversy, the University of Padua accepted assign her degree in philosophy. Sometimes the young Venetian is considered the first graduate woman of Italy, if not of the world. This hypothesis cannot be ascertainedbecause in the past there were no precise procedures for the achievement of academic titles and some women, probably, had obtained a degree before Elena Lucrezia. His story, however, remains a Example of female emancipation.
Biography of Elena Lucrezia Corner
Elena Lucrezia Corner Piscopia, also known with the surname Italianized Cornaro, was born in Venice on June 5, 1646. The father, Giovan Battista Cornerbelonged to a Patrizia family and among its ancestors there were important exponents of the Venetian high society. The mother, Zanetta Bonion the other hand, was a woman of humble origins.
Elena Lucrezia was the fifth of seven brothers and sisters. The father had to invest many resources to obtain the recognition of the aristocratic privileges of the children, but succeeded in guarantee them the best education: Elena Lucrezia could study philosophy, theology, Greek, Latin, Jewish and Spanish with some of the most prestigious masters of Venice. At 19 he took the votes like Benedictine Obilatetaking on a status halfway between that of a nun and that of a secular woman: she did not enter the monastery, but undertook to respect the rule of San Benedetto. The young woman, however, highlighted above all for her great erudition, which allowed her to become part of several academies, in 1669, at 25, was admitted in theAcademy of hospitalized of Padua and in the following years he entered other institutions of the same kind. His name also became known outside the Italian peninsula.
The achievement of the degree and the premature death
In 1678, given the notoriety and culture of Elena Lucrezia, the father asked the Studium of Paduaat the time the only University of the Republic of Venice to recognize his daughter the degree in theology. The cardinal opposed the request Gregorio BarbarigoBishop of Padua and Chancellor of the University, according to whom graduating a woman’s degree was a ridiculous act. At the time, it was obvious that education and access to the most prestigious professions were reserved for men. However, Giovan Battista Corner does not get soul and, after a long time Epistolary exchange with Barbarigohe found an agreement with him: Elena Lucrezia would have obtained a degree, but in philosophy and not in theology. The June 25, 1678 The woman illustrated her dissertation and obtained a degree.
Elena Lucrezia, however, could not become a teacher, because women the profession was precluded. After the achievement of the title, he pierced to Padua, but his health progressively worsened and led her to death in 1684, at just 38 years old. He left some Writings of eruditionnot considered particularly original by critics.
Was Elena Lucrezia Corner the first woman graduated in the world?
It is often said that Elena Lucrezia Corner was the first graduate of Italy or, even, of the world. It is not easy to establish to what extent this statement can be considered correct, in consideration of the fact that in the past the degree It was not regulated by precise procedures as nowcomplete with a list of exams to be taken and booklet with the results, but was assigned with Less rigorous systems. In addition, the sources do not allow to ascertain whether many people who lived in the Middle Ages – first, therefore, of Elena Lucrezia – were graduated or not. It is, however, that several women who lived in the medieval age exercised professions for whom it was obvious to have a degree or belong in some way to the academic world. For example, in the 11th century at the Salernitana medical school – the most important institution of medicine medicine of the Medieval West – a woman emerged, Troula de Ruggierowhich, according to some sources, practiced the profession of doctor. In the thirteenth century, however, it was active in Bologna Bettisia Gozzadinithat different sources indicate as a teacher of law at the University. Probably, other women who lived before Elena Lucrezia Corner also obtained academic title.
However, even if it is not certain that the young Venetian was the first woman graduated in the world, her figure and the battle undertaken for the achievement of the degree constituted important progress On the way to recognize the right to education: although he had never expressed himself in support of female emancipation, his story constituted an event full of meaning.
