Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia Receives the First Doctorate Awarded to a Woman

On June 25, 1678 Venetian philosopher, linguist, musician, and mathematician Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Padua. This was the first doctorate awarded to a woman.

Piscopia originally applied for a doctorate in theology; however, church officials refused, eventually allowing award of the doctorate in theology instead.