Tambroni, Clotilde

Clotilde Tambroni (1758–1817) was born in Bologna, Italy, where she lived in a period characterized by great political, social, and cultural changes. A scholar of ancient and modern languages, despite her lack of a university degree, she was the first woman who obtained the Chair of Ancient Greek at the University of Bologna, a position which she had to leave when Napoleon established his regime in Italy and the Cisalpine Republic was constituted. Since she refused to swear loyalty to the new political and cultural order, she fled to Spain, where she was invited to become a member of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language in Madrid. Tambroni was a member of many national and international academies and was invited to attend literary salons, where she was able to meet Germaine de Staӫl (née Necker). She always supported the importance of women professors in the university life and propounded the equality of science and literature. She died at the age of fifty-nine. The marble bust on her grave was sculpted under the supervision of Antonio Canova. A memorial tablet is kept in the Aula Magna of the University of Bologna.