1418
Verona, Italy
1466
Verona, Italy

Writer, scholar

"Therefore, it appears that Adam's sin was greater than Eve's."

Isotta Nogarola.

The Italian writer Isotta Nogarola is considered the first woman to become a major figure in the humanist movement. Humanism began in Florence, Italy, in the mid-1300s among scholars who promoted the study of the literary masterpieces of ancient Greece and Rome. They believed that this body of learning, called studia humanitatis (humanistic studies), could bring about a cultural rebirth, or renaissance. They also studied the Bible (the Christian holy book) and the works of early Christian thinkers. Humanists had faith in the human potential for great achievements, an idea that was entirely new for the time. They are credited with starting the Renaissance, which spread throughout Italy and...