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872 GALLERY OF ILLUSTRIOUS ITALIAN WOMEN...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Four Female Professors Of The University...
the high , clergy , on tlie 17 th of April , 1732 . " ( 4 ) Tlie Doctors GabrielloManfrediBartolomeo Beccari and five monastical professors
took part , in tlie discussion , , which , gradually increased in . interest and animation—the arguments treated were not concocted beforehand
pro and 2 _^ L re aura and re bein putation g inferi were or to equall none y of a t stake com with petitors her , their own ; amour often
neither she nor they admitted themselves beaten , and the sincerity of the contest gave an immense importance to this singular discussion
, which was sustained in Latin . Its sole defect was the defect of the times and consisted in the scholastic language of the arguments .
The various subjects handled , if they served to display the intellectual ability and profound learning of the disputantsbetrayed the
peripatetic tendencies which distinguished that philosop , hy which is alone possible in a pontifical university . These discussionsand the
various philosophical works published -with the sanction , of the ecclesiastical censorship , consisted in a mere tournament of
syllogisms , sophisms and illustrations , useless for practical purposes , and hence sterile and unproductive . Still the eloquence , the ability , the
readiness and the vast erudition of Laura—her youth and her the sex , young excited ph the iloso greatest pher _^ as enthusiasm conducted to among her home her audi in to triump rs , and h .
Truly it must have been an interesting spectacle—that of a whole city applauding and encouraging the rising genius of a woman .
Nor did the discussion result in mere words ; a general desire arose throughout Bolognathat Laura should receive her diploma ; to
, which desire the College of Doctors of Philosophy consented with heartiest goodwill , and in the hall of Hercules on the 12 th of
May , 1732 , the ceremony took place , in the presence of the college and of a crowd of spectatorsamong whom was Cardinal Polinac
author of the An . ti ILucretio . , g , The silver crown , encircled with leaves of gold , was placed on
Laura ' s head , by Doctor Bocconi , who , while robing her with the Vaio , pronounced an oration in Latin on female excellenceto which
the young candidate responded in the same tongue . The , special mark of affection and respect tendered by her fellow citizens and the
solemnity of the ceremony , tended not a little to enhance the eloquence and facility with which Laura delivered her extemporary discourse
which was applauded with sincere enthusiasm by her numerous , and select audience . She was then created member of the College
of Philosophy , and also of the Philosophical Academy of the Institute . Her name was afterwards inscribed on the rolls of various other
academies of Italy . She was made member of the Academy of the Arcadi in Home , founded 1690 ; of the Gelati founded in Bologna
in 1588 and rendered celebrated by Francesco Redi , by Fulvio Testi , by Battista Guarini , and by Geminiano Montanari , —of the Apatisti ,
founded in Florence in 1631 , and of the Agiati in Roveredo . The Italian academies , which in later times degenerated into
( 4 ) Scrittori Bolognosi , Vol . 1 . p . 384 .
872 Gallery Of Illustrious Italian Women...
872 GALLERY OF ILLUSTRIOUS ITALIAN WOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1858, page 372, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081858/page/12/
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