by Koren Whipp Elena Lucrezia Cornaro also Cornaro-Piscopia (1646-84), philosopher and the first known woman to earn a Doctor of Philosophy. She was born in the Republic of Venice, the fifth daughter of Giovanni Battista Cornaro-Piscopia, Procurator of St. Mark’s, the second highest office only to the Doge, and Zanetta Giovanna Boni. Cornaro began…
by Eliana Greenberg and Koren Whipp Arete of Cyrene (late 5th or early 4th C. BCE)[1] Philosopher and teacher in Cyrene, Cyrene was founded around 630 BCE by Greek colonists from Thera, and it became an important cultural mecca known for academic pursuits, and home to the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, founded by Arete’s father, Aristippus.…
by Koren Whipp Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565-1645) French writer, editor, literary critic, translator, novelist, poet, and philosopher. She was born in Paris and raised in Gournay-sur-Aronde. Her father, Guillaume Le Jars was treasurer to King Henri III of France. In 1568 he obtained feudal rights to the Gournay estate in Picardy, and in…
by Elizabeth Pallitto Tullia d’Aragona (c.1510-1556) was an Italian courtesan, author, and philosopher in Venice. Under her mother’s influence, Tullia had been initiated into the life of a courtesan when very young. She left us three books — her lyric Rime, her philosophical Dialogo, and her epic Il Meschino, and some urban legends. As an…
By Penelope Whitworth Mary Astell (1666–1731), philosopher, rhetorician, and advocate for women’s education. She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, to Peter Astell , a coal merchant, and his wife, Mary, daughter of George Errington, also a coal merchant in Newcastle.[1] Her paternal uncle, Ralph Astell, curate of St Nicholas’s, Newcastle upon Tyne, was…
by Gina Luria Walker Hypatia 370–415 was a Greek scholar, daughter of a master teacher at the academy at the Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt. During her lifetime, Hypatia was renowned as a philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and teacher, as well as a great beauty. She defied popular assumptions about women by wearing the black philosopher’s…
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