Happy birthday, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia!
04.06.2025
On the occasion of Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia's birth date, tomorrow, June 5, at 6:00 PM, a laurel wreath will be placed in front of her statue at the entrance of the Cornaro staircase in Palazzo del Bo, Padua. The tribute will be brought by Paola Dessì, advisor to the Pro-Rectorate for Artistic, Historical, and Cultural Heritage at the University of Padua, and Marta Jorfida, president of the Rotary Club Passport Piscopia.
Elena Lucrezia was born on June 5, 1646, in Venice. She is famous for being the first woman in the world to earn a university degree: she graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua in 1678. She became a symbol of intelligence, perseverance, and the capacity of women to be part of a world—academic and intellectual—that had been exclusively male for centuries. She stands as a symbol of the right to equal access to education, equality of rights, and dignity.
