Alessandra Giliani

Alessandra Giliani (1307 – 26 March 1326) is known as the first woman to be recorded in historical documents as practicing anatomy and pathology. She's reputed to have worked as a prosector, preparing corpses for anatomical study, under the famed anatomist Mondino de Luzzi at the University of Bologna; although all evidence of her work has been either lost or destroyed. If real, however, Giliani's purported contributions to the study of anatomy would be significant.

Early life and education Giliani is believed to have been born in 1307, in San Giovanni in Persiceto, in the Italian province of Emilia-Romagna.

Evidence of Giliani's activities at the University of Bologna is scarce, as there are no contemporary records documenting her life. work, or graduation. If the accounts of Giliani's work are accurate, she may have helped document the circulatory pathways centuries before Harvey formally described the heart as a pump circulating blood throughout the body.

Barbara Quick's novel, A Golden Web, published by HarperTeen in 2010, is historical fiction based on the life and times of Alessandra Giliani. Giliani is among the 1,038 women honored in Judy Chicago's renowned art installation The Dinner Party.