Bettisia Gozzadini
Lithograph of a young woman in a mediaeval head-dress
Nineteenth-century lithograph depicting Gozzadini; no life portraits are known
Born1209
Bologna
Died2 November 1261 (aged 51–52)
Budrio
Other names
  • Battisia Gozzadini[1]
  • Betina Gozzadina[2]: 89 
  • Bitisia Gozzadina[3]
  • Bitisia Gozzadini[4]: 445 
OccupationLawyer
Known forReputedly the first woman to lecture at a university

Bettisia Gozzadini also known as Bitisia Biltisia and Beatrix,[5] (1209 – 2 November 1261)[6]: 11  was a Bolognese jurist who lectured at the University of Bologna from about 1239.[7] She is thought to be the first woman to have taught at a university.

Life

Gozzadini was born in the commune of Bologna in northern Italy in 1209; her parents, Amadore Gozzadini and Adelasia de' Pegolotti, were of the nobility. Gozzadini studied philosophy, and then studied law under Giacomo Baldavino and Tancred of Bologna at the Studium of Bologna, where she also received encouragement from Odofredo.[6]: 6  As a young woman, she dressed as a man; it is not known whether this was because of social pressures or was from personal choice.[7]

She graduated from the university in 1237,[4]: 445  and for two years taught law at her home. She was offered chair at the Studium, which she at first declined but later accepted.[6]: 9  According to legend, she had to wear a veil when teaching, to avoid distraction to her students; however, the same legend is also attached to Novella d'Andrea, and it is not known which – if either – it belongs to.[8]

Gozzadini was a noted orator, and on 31 May 1242 she gave the oration at the funeral of the Bishop of Bologna, Enrico della Fratta.[6]: 9 

Gozzadini died with two other women and four students on 2 November 1261, when flooding of the Idice caused the collapse of the house where they had taken refuge after fleeing from her villa on the river between Mezzolara and Riccardina, now in the comune of Budrio to the east of Bologna.[6]: 11  There was general mourning in the city and the schools were closed. Her funeral was held at the church of the Padri Serviti.[6]: 11 

Reception

Gozzadini is thought to be the first woman to have taught at a university.[8][9]: 218  Her later fame as a lawyer might have been prompted by an historical defense of the female doctorate written by Alessandro Macchiavelli in the 18th century. Macchiavelli was known to fill in the gaps of his knowledge by fabricating stories about his subjects.[10]

A terracotta bust of her, one of a series of twelve representations of notable Bolognese women by the un-named "Scultore di Casa Fibbia", dates from the late seventeenth century.[7] It was originally in the Salone d'Onore of Palazzo Fibbia Fabbri – now Palazzo Masetti Calzolari – and is now in the Museo della Storia di Bologna in Palazzo Pepoli. Gozzadini is the earliest of the twelve women depicted.[9]: 218 

Her writings, on the Digest and on the lex omnes populi, are believed lost.[6]: 8 

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bettisia Gozzadini.
  1. ↑ Gozzadini (in Italian). Enciclopedia on line. Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed October 2023.
  2. ↑ Francesco Agostino Della Chiesa (1620). Theatro delle donne letterate con un breve discorso della preminenza, e perfettione del sesso donnesco (in Italian). Mondovi: per Giovanni Gislandi, e Gio. Tomaso Rossi.
  3. ↑ Carlo Antonio Macchiavelli (1722). Bitisia Gozzadina seu De mulierum doctoratu: apologetica legalis historica dissertatio (in Latin). Excudebat Bononiae prope Archigymnasium sub vexillum Rosae: Jo. Baptista Blancus typographus.
  4. 1 2 Caroline P. Murphy (1999). 'In praise of the ladies of Bologna': the image and identity of the sixteenth-century Bolognese female patriciate. Renaissance Studies. 13 (4): 440–454. doi:10.1111/j.1477-4658.1999.tb00090.x.
  5. ↑ Vanacker & van Deinsen (2022). Portraits and Poses-Female Intellectual Authority, Agency and Authorship in Early Modern Europe. Leuven University Press. p. 291. ISBN 9789462703308.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Carolina Bonafede (1845). Cenni biografici e ritratti d'insigni donne bolognesi (in Italian). Bologna: Sassi.
  7. 1 2 3 Busto di dama bolognese illustre – Bettisia Gozzadini (in Italian). Museo della Città di Bologna. Accessed April 2016.
  8. 1 2 Umberto Eco ([s.d.]). Bettisia Gozzadini e Novella D'Andrea (in Italian). Enciclopedia delle donne. Accessed April 2016.
  9. 1 2 [Genus Bononiae] (2014). Palazzo Pepoli: Da residenza cittadina a Museo della storia di Bologna (in Italian). Firenze: Giunti; Milano: Touring Club Italiano. ISBN 9788809786356.
  10. ↑ Iker, Theresa (2021). "What Italian 'feminist forgery' reveals about history and memory". Gender.stanford.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
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