Laura Bassi: the scientist who sealed the history of women in the university world

This Italian woman became the first woman to achieve a position as an official professor at a European university and, in addition, she was the second to achieve a doctorate.

Laura Maria Catarina Bassi was born in the city of Bologna (in present-day Italy) in 1711. At the age of 21, she reached a highly prestigious place in science, at a time when women were largely excluded from education. higher.

In fact, just a few years before her birth, the Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia obtained a doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Padua (in 1678), before the eyes of the more than 20 thousand spectators who came to the place to be witnesses. of history. It was aboutthe first doctor. In any case, as the BBC portrayed, immediately after this event, the rectors of the institution decided not to admit more women to their study center. So when she died six years later, she was celebrated for having been the first and last graduate of that university.

On April 17, 1732, exactly 289 years ago, Laura Bassi faced 7 examiners and successfully answered 49 questions from intellectuals on physics, metaphysics, and the nature of the body and soul. A crowd gathered at the Palazzo Pubblico to see her then becomethe second woman to receive a Ph.D.To remember this fact, Google decided to dedicate 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 leading scientific institutions in Italy. Still, he had a limited role. Because of the machismo of the time, it was frowned upon for a woman to participate in men’s meetings because some believed they were inferior.

Anyway, this scientist, specialized in physics and philosophy, was able to break down prejudices, supported by her environment, which did not hinder her growth. Thus, among her most important achievements is that 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 her professor. Historical.Laura Bassi was then the first woman to achieve a position as an official professor at a European university.