Google celebrates Elena Cornaro Piscopia's 373rd Birthday with a doodle

Piscopia at the early age of 11 took a vow of celibacy and remained unmarried throughout her lifetime and later on she devoted her last seven year in charity.

Search giant Google today celebrating Elena Cornaro Piscopia's 373rd Birthday with a doodle. The lady is shown in the doodle with holding a book on her hand and book library is shown behind her. Piscopia was a Venetian philosopher who became the first women to receive an academic degree as well as first to receive a PhD degree.

Born on 5th June 1646 in Venice, Italy, Piscopia was the third child of Gianbattista Cornaro-Piscopia, a Venetian nobleman and procurator of San Marco, Giovanni Battista Cornaro. At the age of seven, Picopia studied Latin and Greek under her different instructors, and become proficient in seven languages.

Piscopia at the early age of 11 took a vow of celibacy and remained unmarried throughout her lifetime and later on she devoted her last seven year in charity.

Piscopia was also a good musician and singer and mastered harpsichord, the clavichord, clavichord harp and violin. Piscopia at her father’s insistence was sent to the University of Padua to study further. Piscopia's applied for a doctorate and was rejected because church officials would not bestow the title on a woman. So at the age of 32, Piscopia was granted a PhD in philosophy, the first woman in the world to receive a doctorate degree.

"Her oral examination in 1678 attracted so much interest that the ceremony had to be moved from the university to Padua Cathedral to accommodate an audience that included professors, students, senators, and invited guests from Universities all over Italy," says the Google doodle blog.

Today's Google Doodle was created by California-based Doodler Alyssa Winans, who shares her thoughts on Piscopia.

Doodler Alyssa Winans was inspired by her life and said, "I personally was inspired not only by Elena’s single-minded dedication to her studies but also by the sheer enjoyment she felt at the prospect of quiet study. Although she received many accolades in her life, it was clear that they were never what she was after; she simply loved knowledge."

Winans also tells about how important it is to highlight the accomplishments of women in academic fields. She said, "I think it's vital, not only to inspire students of today to recognize what they can accomplish but also to paint an accurate portrait of women’s contributions throughout history."