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Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti  (1711 – 1778), an Italian physicist, was the first woman to earn a doctorate. EARLY LIFE Laura Bassi was born  in Bologna to a wealthy lawyer, Giuseppe Bassi, and his wife Maria Rosa Cesari. Her paternal grandfather, Giacinto Bassi, had run a chemists shop in Bologna, where natural-based medicines were prepared and sold. Laura was her parents’ only surviving child. They were an enlightened family for the time.. As an only child, Bassi was given an extensive education. Starting at the age of five she was taught by her cousin, Father Lorenzo Stegani, Latin, Frnch, and mathematics. She learned notRead More →

Dora Jordan Actress

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Guest post by Elf Ahearn During the Georgian era, the United Kingdom’s most famous and notorious actress was Mrs. Dorothea Jordan (Dora), whose curly brown hair, tiny waist, perfect legs, and brilliant comic timing made her the Jennifer Aniston of her day. Dora, born Nov. 22, 1761, was the granddaughter of a Welsh clergyman named Phillips. Being poor, this man of the cloth persuaded his three daughters to become actresses, though “we know from unquestionable authority, that they were all respectable in the profession.” That said, one daughter, Grace Phillips, succumbed to the advances of Mr. Francis Bland, an Irish lad not yet of legalRead More →

Frances Burney

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In: 18th Century Women, Literature, Writing

At the age of fifteen, Frances Burney (1752-1840) tossed the plays, poems, and first novel she had written into a bonfire. Why? She was consumed with guilt. After all, in 1767, women were not supposed to spend their time writing anything but private letters. Better they perform useful household chores and fine needlework. Luckily, Frances Burney’s resolve to be a proper lady did not last more than nine months at which time she began a journal which is remarkable recounting of the history and personages of the late 18th and early 19th century. Over a lifetime that took her from England to France and back toRead More →