Biography of maria gaetana
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Written by Elif Unlu, Class of 1995 (Agnes Scott College)
Even though her contribution to mathematics are very important, Maria Gaetana Agnesi was not a typical famous mathematician. She led a quite simple life and she gave up mathematics very early. At first glance her life may seem to be boring, however, considering the circumstances in which she was raised, her accomplishments to mathematics are glorious. Enjoy!
In Italy, where the Renaissance had its origin, women made their mark on the academic world. Intellectual women were admired by men, they were never ridiculed for being intellectual and educated. This attitude enabled Italian women to participate in arts, medicine, literature, and mathematics. Among many others, Maria Gaetana Agnesi was by far one of the most important and extraordinary figure in mathematics during the 18th century.
"Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born in Milan on May 16, 1718, to a wealthy and literate family" [Osen, 39]. She was the oldest of the 21 children that her father, a rich merchant, had with his three wives. "She was recognized as a child prodigy very early; spoke French by the age of five; and had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and several modern languages by the age of nine. At her teens, Maria mastered mathematics" [Osen, 40]. The Agnesi home was a gathering place of the most distinguished intellectuals of the day. Maria participated in most of the seminars, engaging with the guests in abstract philosophical and mathematical discussions. Maria was very shy in nature and did not like these meetings. She continued participating in the home gatherings to please her father until the death of her mother. Her mother's death provided her the excuse to retire from public life. She took over management of the household. It is possible that this heavy duty job was one of the reasons why she never married.
However, she did not give up mathematics yet. In 1738 she published a collection of
Maria’s life was filled with contradictions. She lived at a time when the only schooling most Italian girls received was in “domestic arts.” Yet Maria’s education was equivalent to, if not greater than, that of the brightest upper-class boys. Her accomplishments brought her fame throughout Europe. Yet Maria was a shy, modest girl who hated being a celebrity. From age nine, she defended the value of educating women. Yet Maria turned her back on her own education to help the poor.
In researching a biography of Maria's life, I've come across a great deal of misinformation about her, both in print and on the Internet. I will use this website to separate the facts from the myths on the main blog page. I will also share additional details of her life and the times she lived in on that page. If you have questions about Maria, feel free to post them there. Or you can contact me through my website.
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Italian mathematician and philanthropist (1718–1799)
Maria Gaetana Agnesi | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1718-05-16)16 May 1718 Milan, Duchy of Milan |
| Died | 9 January 1799(1799-01-09) (aged 80) Milan, Cisalpine Republic |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Known for | Author of Instituzioni Analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana (English: Analytical Institutions for the use of Italian youth) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Bologna |
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (an-YAY-zee,ahn-,Italian:[maˈriːaɡaeˈtaːnaaɲˈɲeːzi,-ɲɛːz-]; 16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italianmathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics professor at a university.
She is credited with writing the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus and was a member of the faculty at the University of Bologna, although she never served.
She devoted the last four decades of her life to studying theology (especially patristics) and to charitable work and serving the poor. She was a devout Catholic and wrote extensively on the marriage between intellectual pursuit and mystical contemplation, most notably in her essay Il cielo mistico (The Mystic Heaven). She saw the rational contemplation of God as a complement to prayer and contemplation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini, harpsichordist and composer, was her sister.
Early life
Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born in Milan, to a wealthy and literate family. Her father Pietro Agnesi, a wealthy silk merchant, wanted to elevate his family into the Milanese nobility. In order to achieve his goal, he married Anna Fortunato Brivio of the Brivius de Brokles family in 1717. Her mother's
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Milan, Habsburg Empire (now Italy)
Milan, Habsburg Empire (now Italy)
Biography
Maria Gaetana Agnesi was the daughter of Pietro Agnesi who came from a wealthy family who had made their money from silk. Pietro Agnesi had twenty-one children with his three wives and Maria was the eldest of the children. As Truesdell writes in [20], Pietro Agnesi:-... belonged to a class intermediate between the patricians and the merely rich. Such a bourgeois could have a household fit for a lord, comport himself like a knight, mingle freely with some nobles, occupy himself with the finer things of life, be a patron of men of talent. [Pietro Agnesi] did just that...Some accounts of Maria Agnesi describe her father as being a professor of mathematics at Bologna. It is shown clearly in [16] that this is entirely incorrect, but the error is unfortunately carried forward to [1] and will also be seen in a number of other places.
Pietro Agnesi could provide high quality tutors for Maria Agnesi and indeed he did provide her with the best available tutors who were all young men of learning from the Church. She showed remarkable talents and mastered many languages such as Latin, Greek and Hebrew at an early age. At the age of 9 she published a Latin discourse in defence of higher education for women. It was not Agnesi's composition, as has been claimed by some, but rather it was an article written in Italian by one of her tutors which she translated and [20]:-
... she delivered it from memory to an academic gathering arranged by her father in the garden...In 1738 she published Propositiones Philosophicae a series of essays on philosophy and natural science. The volume contained 191 philosophical theses which Agnesi would defend in disputes wi