Mathematician and polyglot Maria Gaetana Agnesi was the first woman to write a mathematical text. She oversaw its printing and publication herself. Child of a wealthy Milanese merchant, she spoke seven languages, and at age nine wrote an appeal for women’s right to education. Instituzioni analitiche is a comprehensive text of algebra and calculus, written in the vernacular. It was translated widely. Though appointed a professor at the University of Bologna by Pope Benedict XI, she instead dedicated her life to serving the poor. She died in one of the hospices she established. Crater Agnesi on Venus is named for her.
