The northern Italian city of Padua
south of Venice is to get its first female statue in one of the
largest public squares in Europe, Prato della Valle, honouring
the world's first woman doctoral graduate.
The first woman in the world to get a university doctoral
degree, local woman Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, is to be
honoured with the first female statue to be added to the 78
existing statues of famous men ranging from Savonarola to
Galileo, Livy, Mantegna, Petrarch and Tasso.
Piscopia became a doctor in philosophy at Padua university on
June 25, 1678.
Paduan feminist and activist Anna Piva successfully lobbied
two centre-left councillors to table a motion in her favour,
which was approved by the city council Monday night.
It was passed by the centre left, with the centre right
abstaining.
An Italo-Albanian Venetian of nobel descent, Piscopia, also
known as Helen Cornaro, was celebrated for her learning.
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