1718-1799

Italian Mathematician

The daughter of a mathematics professor at the University of Bologna, Maria Gaëtana Agnesi grew up possessing an enormous command of mathematics, languages, and the sciences. She later dedicated herself to the education of her many younger siblings, a project that resulted in her most important work, Instituzione analitiche. This work includes discussion of the curve referred to as the "Witch of Agnesi."

Agnesi spent her entire life in the northern Italian city of Milan. Her father taught mathematics at the University of Bologna, and appreciation for learning permeated the family's home life. Recognizing his daughter's promise as a scholar, the father hired a tutor for her; meanwhile, she excelled in languages all on her own. The many visitors to her parents' home carried on their conversations in Latin, still the language of learned discourse. Not...