Dr. Patrizia Bettella received a Delmas Grant under the Venetian Research program: British & Commonwealth for Individual Scholars category for her project: Academic Speeches and other Works in Italian by Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia.
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (Venice 1642-Padua 1684) was known during her lifetime as the Venetian Minerva, admired and appreciated as the most learned woman, a polyglot, trained in the Jesuit ratio studiorum and the first in the world to obtain a formal degree in philosophy at the University of Padua in 1678. Her fame extended outside the Venetian Republic and the Italian peninsula and many have dedicated to her books, poetry collections, academic ceremonies, during her lifetime and after her untimely death.
This project intends to bring to the public the first annotated bilingual edition (Italian and facing English translation) of the four extant Academic speeches, poems and letters written by Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia. The existing works of Elena Cornaro, to this day, are only available in manuscripts and collections housed in libraries. No modern edition of the already limited corpus of Cornaro's works exists. This collection of Cornaro's works shows the complexity of this young Venetian woman, who was, not only the modest and quiet example of piety and charity, but also a learned, active and passionate lady with her own voice.
Congratulations Dr. Patrizia Bettella
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