Maria Celeste
Sister Maria Celeste (born August 16, 1600 in Padua , † April 2, 1634 ), born Virginia Galilei , was a nun. She was the daughter of the scientist Galileo Galilei and Marina Gamba .
Life
Virginia was the eldest of three siblings, with a sister Livia and a brother Vincenzio. All three were born out of wedlock, and the daughters were considered not worth marrying. Galileo - now living in Florence - sent both of them shortly after Virginia's thirteenth birthday to the Poor Clare Monastery of San Matteo in Arcetri . When Virginia took her vows in 1616, she chose her religious name Maria Celeste in honor of the Virgin Mary and her father's love for astronomy .
Little is known about the life of Sister Maria Celeste until 1623. However, around 120 letters to her father have survived from 1623 to 1634. From these emerges the picture of a loving daughter who always strives for the well-being of her father. Maria Celeste served as the pharmacist of San Matteo (as she was in poor health herself) and sent herbs to her father to treat his illnesses. She also managed the monastery finances and often asked her father for help with the maintenance of the monastery.
In 1631 Galileo bought the Villa Il Goiello in Arcetri, near the monastery. From 1633 he spent the last years of his life here under house arrest after being sentenced by the Inquisition and forcibly revoking his views on heliocentrism . Part of the punishment imposed on him was: “As a salutary repentance, we urge you to recite the seven penitential psalms once a week for the next three years.” Maria Celeste undertook to perform this penance for him.
Shortly after Galileo returned to Arcetri, Maria Celeste fell ill with dysentery and died on April 2, 1634 at the age of 33.
Galileo described Maria Celeste as "a woman of exquisite disposition, singular kindness and very fond of me."
Works
After Galileo's death, 124 letters from Maria Celeste , written between 1623 and 1633, were discovered among his papers . Galileo's answers have been lost. Maria Celeste's letters have been published:
- (in Italian) Virginia Galilei, Lettere al padre on Wikisource
- (in English) Galilei, Maria Celeste, and Sobel, Dava: Letters to the father: suor Maria Celeste to Galileo, 1623–1633 . Walker & Co., New York 2001. Also online
reception
- Maria Celeste appears as a figure in the play Life of Galilei by Bertolt Brecht and Margarete Steffin . The play does not give an accurate account of her life as it depicts her engagement and not her vow as a nun.
- The International Astronomical Union named the Maria Celeste impact crater on the planet Venus after her.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Galileo Project | Family | Maria Celeste Galilei. Accessed May 31, 2020 .
- ^ Maurice A. Finocchiaro: The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History . Ed .: Berkeley. University of California Press, 1989, pp. 291 .
- ^ Galileo, quoted in: Antonio Favaro: Galileo Galilei e suor Maria Celeste . G. Barbèra, Editore, 1891, p. 203 .
- ^ Cattermole, Peter and Moore, Patrick: Atlas of Venus . Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-49652-7 , pp. 126 .
Web links
- BIBLIOTHECA AUGUSTANA, Virginia Galilei, 1600 - 1634
- Harvard Magazine: Vita Sour Maria Celeste
- Dava Sobel: Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love . Walker & Company (US), Fourth Estate (UK), 1999, ISBN 0-8027-1343-2 .
- Galileo Project
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Celeste, Maria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Galilei, Virginia (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | nun |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 16, 1600 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Padua |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 2, 1634 |