Laura Bassi: the scientist who sealed the history of women in academia

Laura Maria Catarina Bassi was born in the city of Bologna (in present-day Italy) in 1711. At the age of 21 he achieved a place of great prestige in the Science, at a time when women were largely excluded from higher education.

In fact, a few years before her birth, the Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia obtained a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Padua (in 1678), under the eyes of more than 20,000 spectators who came to the scene to witness the story. It was about the first doctor. In any case, as the BBC described it, immediately after this event, the rectors of the institution decided not to admit any more women in their study center. So, upon her death six years later, she was celebrated for being the first and last to graduate from this university.

On April 17, 1732, exactly 289 years ago, Laura Bassi He faced 7 examiners and successfully answered 49 questions from intellectuals on physics, metaphysics, and the nature of body and soul. A crowd gathered at the Palazzo Pubblico to watch her and then become a the second woman to receive a doctorate. To remember this fact, Google has decided to devote its traditional doodle to this woman who sealed the growth of women in the world of science and education.

Bassi was also the first to join the Academy of Sciences of the Bologna Institute: one of the main scientific institutions Of Italy. Yet he had a limited role. Because of the machismo of the time, it was frowned upon for a woman to attend men’s meetings because some thought they were inferior.

Anyway, this scientist, specializing in physics and philosophy, was able to break down prejudices, supported by her environment, which did not slow down her growth. Thus, among her most important achievements, she was appointed a teacher, a position for which she received an annual salary of 500 pounds. In addition, in 1732, the University of Bologna appointed its professor. Historical. Laura Bassi is then the first woman to take up a post of official professor in a European university.

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