Maria Gaetana Agnesi – an outstanding woman mathematician

Abstract

The article examines the biography and creative work of an outstanding female mathematician from Italy, one of the first women to hold a professorship in mathematics. It traces her life path from early childhood to her death. Gifted in learning from an early age and supported by wealthy and influential parents, she demonstrated remarkable abilities in language studies, achieved significant success in mathematics and physics, and studied geometry, ballistics, theology, and philosophy. Her subsequent scholarly interests focused primarily on mathematics and mathematics education. Her major work, known worldwide as Foundations of Analysis and exceeding 1,000 pages in length, was published in Italian, quickly gained wide recognition, and was translated into French and English. In this textbook for Italian youth, for the first time, an analytical proof was provided showing that any cubic equation over the complex numbers has exactly three roots. The work also explored a curve that later became known as versiera of Agnesi in recognition of her contributions. A description of this curve is given, its equation is derived, and some of its properties are discussed. The article also presents an analysis of several generalized and related curves connected with the versiera, along with some applications and noteworthy facts. Attention is also paid to Maria’s activities in the field of mathematics education and charity.