Tatiana Wedenison | |
Birth Place: | Milan, Italy |
Known For: | First woman to study at Polytechnic University of Milan (1888) |
Alma Mater: | Università di Pavia |
Tatiana Wedenison (born 1864) was the first woman in Italy to attempt earning an engineering degree, the first to enrol at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Italian: Politecnico di Milano), and one of the first modern Italian women to earn a university degree.[1] [2] [3]
Wedenison was born in Milan in 1864. Her father was a shopkeeper.
She enrolled at the Politecnico di Milano in 1888,[4] [5] [6] and later transferred to the Università di Pavia, from which she graduated with a degree in natural sciences (Italian: Laurea in Scienze Fisiche, Matematiche e Naturali) in 1893 or 1894.[7]
Her accomplishment is significant in that by 1900, there were still only 250 female university students in the whole of Italy.[8] She was followed by Emma Strada, who in 1908 became the first woman to obtain a civil engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Turin, and Gaetanina Calvi, who in 1913 became the first female engineering graduate of the Polytechnic University of Milan.