The story of the first woman in history to obtain a doctorate
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On June 25, 1678, Italian Elena Cornaro received her doctorate in philosophy, becoming the first woman in history to receive this prestigious academic degree.
Elena Cornaro was born on June 5, 1646 in Venice, Italy, and died on July 26, 1684 in Padua, Italy, and was a scientist and the first woman to receive a university degree, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Her upbringing and education
Elena was the third child of Giovanni Battista Cornaro Piscopia, a nobleman. Her mother, Zanetta Boni, was a farmer and was not married to Giovanni at the time of her birth, although they later married and had four more children after Elena.
Although she was born out of wedlock, her father, Gianbattista Cornaro Piscopia, acknowledged and supported her greatly. A lover of literature and science, he was not afraid to go against the grain of the times in his approach to his daughter's education.
When Elena was seven years old, her family friend, Father Giovanni Fabris, encouraged her father to begin lessons in Greek and Latin for her. She later became fluent in French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic, in addition to her native Italian.
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Under the tutelage of some of the most prominent local teachers, Cornaro studied the sciences, especially mathematics and astronomy, and various musical instruments, such as the harp and the violin, as well as composing poetry and singing. However, her true passion was theology and philosophy.
Helena was a devout Catholic, and took a vow of chastity at the age of eleven, and thus refused many marriage proposals from potential suitors. She wanted to join the Benedictine nuns, but her father refused.
At the age of eighteen, she was registered in the honor roll of the nobility when her father spent 100,000 ducats to raise her and her brothers to the level of aristocrats.
By the age of nineteen, she was widely known as the most educated woman in Italy, with people traveling from all over the country to the Cornaro Palace in Venice to meet her.
In 1669, she translated the Dialogue with Christ by the monk Giovanni Laspergio from Spanish into Italian, and dedicated the translation to Gian Paolo Oliva, her close friend. The volume was published in 5 editions in the Republic of Venice from 1669 to 1672.
Her fame spread throughout Italy, and she was invited to join many learned societies. In 1670 she became president of the Venice Academy of Peace.
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She was born in 1646, a time when women generally did not have access to education.
In 1672 her father sent her to the distinguished University of Padua, the third oldest university in Italy, to continue her studies and bought her a house near the university so that Elena could begin studying theology.
Cornaro did not seek degrees from the University of Padua, she simply wanted to continue her education. However, Giovanni Cornaro insisted that the world should know about his daughter's amazing knowledge.
She had been ill before entering the University of Padua, but the illness seemed to disappear once she began her studies. She wrote to her father from Padua shortly after entering the university: "With the pleasure of my studies, the fresh air, and the diligent care of the doctors, I feel much stronger so that I hope in the future to be able to resume my studies."
While attending classes, she continued to meet people from all over Europe, and especially continued to debate with famous scholars, debates which she enjoyed very much. These debates became famous throughout Italy and more widely throughout Europe.
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At her father’s insistence, Elena applied for a doctorate in theology from the University of Padua. Her application was met with resistance, as Catholic Church officials refused to grant the title of Doctor of Theology to a woman, believing it inappropriate for a woman to receive a theological degree. Until the early 21st century, the Catholic Church prohibited women from being ordained as priests, and although this was not what Cornaro wanted, the Church felt that granting her such a degree was close enough to ordination.
Instead of a doctorate in theology, the church allowed her to apply for a doctorate in philosophy.
Cornaro's examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy was scheduled to take place in the University Hall of the University of Padua, but due to the large audience, which included professors, students, senators, and guests from universities throughout Italy, the discussion was moved to the Cathedral of Our Lady in Padua.
On June 25, 1678, she was given an examination in which she spoke for an hour in classical Latin, explaining difficult passages chosen at random from Aristotle's works. She was listened to with great interest, and her brilliant answers astounded the examiners, who decided that her vast knowledge was superior to the doctorate in philosophy she had earned at the age of thirty-two. She was the first woman in the world to receive a doctorate. In addition to her doctorate, she received a doctor's ring, a teacher's robe, and a poet's crown.
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Google celebrates Elena Cornaro
The last seven years
Cornaro was a member of several academies throughout Europe, and received visits from scholars from all over the world. She maintained correspondence with other academics in Italy and abroad. She enjoyed debating, lecturing on theology, and composing music.
In her book The Legacy of Hypatia, Margaret Alec notes that Cornaro became a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Padua in 1678. During the last seven years of her life, Elena focused on learning and serving the poor.
She was in poor health most of her life, and her intense charity work and intense dedication to her studies took their toll on her weak physical condition.
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia died at the age of thirty-eight on 26 July 1684. She is believed to have died of tuberculosis. Her death caused great mourning in Padua and there were memorial services in Venice, Padua, Siena and Rome.
Her last wish was to be buried in the Church of Santa Giustina in Padua, Italy.
In 1685, the University of Padua issued a medal in honor of its great student. Today, a marble statue of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia stands in the prestigious University of Padua in Italy. It was donated to the university by Caterina Dolfin in 1773.
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She is remembered in the United States by a stained glass window at Vassar College depicting her defending her theses in the Cathedral of Padua.
Throughout her life, Cornaro wrote numerous articles and treatises on religious and philosophical issues, including academic discourses and translations. Benedetto Pacini published her biography and the collected works of Elena in Italian and Latin in 1688 in Parma, Italy. Even today, Elena Cornaro is widely quoted by scholars and writers.
In 1895, the abbess of the Benedictine convent of Mathalida Pinsent in Rome opened her tomb, reburied her body in a new coffin, and placed in it a tablet extolling her virtues and telling the story of her life.
Her achievement remained the highest academic achievement by a woman up to that point in history until the next university graduate was Laura Bassi (1711–1778), a noblewoman from Bologna, who received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Bologna on 12 May 1732. The third was Maria Pellegrina Amoretti, who received a doctorate in law from the University of Pavia on 25 June 1777.
On June 5, 2019, Google celebrated Elena Cornaro's 373rd birthday.

Top 5 Interesting Things to Know About Elena Cornaro:
She was the first woman in history to receive a doctorate degree.
She took a vow of chastity at the age of eleven, rejecting various marriage proposals.
She devoted the last seven years of her life to charity and helping the poor.
She spoke 7 languages fluently: Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and Arabic, in addition to her native language, Italian.
She died at the age of 38.


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