WOMEN IN SCIENCE TO REMEMBER – Part 1 – Laura Maria Bassi Veratti

Laura Bassi (1711 – 1778) was an Italian physicist. She was the first woman to have a doctorate in science and the second woman in the world to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Laura Bassi was privately tutored (5-20 years of age) like all rich girls were. Laura needed a male ally; in her case, it was Prospero Lambertini, the Archbishop of Bologna (later Pope Benedict XIV), to be seen by the University. She defended a stunning forty-nine theses before the professors in 1732 and received her doctoral degree.

A month later, Laura Bassi was the first female member of any scientific establishment as the University appointed her as its first female teacher. She was not allowed to teach all-male classes (which was probably the majority), but progress it was. And she even got paid for it. At one time, she was the highest-paid employee of the University.
Lambertini helped her to receive permission for private classes and to do experiments.
In 1738, Bassi married Giuseppe Veratti, a doctor of medicine and a fellow lecturer in anatomy at the University of Bologna.

Laura Bassi became the most important populariser of Newtonian mechanics in Italy. She became a member of the Benedettini (similar to the modern Pontifical Academy of Sciences) in 1745. She took up the Chair of Experimental Physics in 1776, the position she held until her death.

This is a series of posts about impressive women who are role models. Historical giants in science, philosophy, philanthropy, peace, education, medicine and whatever impresses me.
Source: Wikipedia.