Tullia d'Aragona

Renaissance philosopher and courtesan who challenged gender norms in 16th-century Italy

In an era when women were barred from universities, Tullia d'Aragona (1501/1510–1556) became Europe's first professional female philosopher. Her seminal work "On the Infinity of Love" (1547) presented radical theories about gender equality in emotional relationships, arguing that love should liberate rather than possess.

As a Roman courtesan, she hosted intellectual salons attended by Michelangelo and Cardinal Reginald Pole. Her mathematical treatise on Platonic solids predated similar work by male scholars by 40 years. The British Museum preserves her correspondence challenging Pope Paul III's sumptuary laws targeting educated women.

D'Aragona's proto-feminist poetry collection "Rime" contained encrypted messages supporting the Protestant Reformation. Recent scholarship reveals she influenced Galileo's defense of heliocentrism through her networks.