Born: 12 May 1756, Italy
Died: 14 October 1787
Country most active: Italy
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
In 1777, after being rejected by the University of Turin, Maria Pellegrina Amoretti graduated at 21 in Iure utroque (civil and canon Law) at the University of Pavia, defending her doctoral theses. She was the author of a treatise on dowry law entitled “Tractatus de jure Datium apud romanos.” She is considered the third woman with a doctoral degree (following Elena Lucrezia Cornaro and Laura Bassi) and the first with a degree in Law.
Amoretti, born on May 12, 1756, in Oneglia, displayed exceptional intellect from a young age. By age twelve, she was proficient in Latin and Greek, and by fifteen, she was actively engaging in philosophical and physics discussions. She pursued her legal studies, learning from her older brother’s books.
Her journey to obtain a degree was not without difficulty, as she faced rejection from the University of Turin due to sexism. However, her determination led her to graduate at twenty-one in Civil Law (Iure utroque) from the University of Pavia on January 25, 1777. Her achievement was finally recognized through a series of theses, one of which focused on Beatrice d’Este. She received accolades for her accomplishment, including a doctoral ring, a luxurious scarf engraved with the phrase “Ob juri scientiam Academia Ticinensis dat libenter merito,” and a laurel wreath.
Her influence extended beyond Academia, as she was regarded as a feminist avant-garde, advocating for women’s civil rights at meetings of the Constitutional Club of Milan, as described in Ginevra Canonici Fachini’s Biographical Prospectus of Italian Women.
She passed away on October 14, 1787, in Oneglia.