They say that behind every great man lies a great women. This is most certainly the case when considering Galileo Galilei, one of the first men to observe and catalog the cosmos, despite the objections of the church. Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste, worked as an apothocary in a convent in San Matteo. Although she remained there for most of her days, she could be described as the "super daughter" of the renaissance, finding time to send her dad medicinal remedies, provide moral support, and edit his controversial literature all while maintaining her dutes as a nun. Even though she was a woman of God, it is evident through the 124 letters she sent that her true alliances lied with her father. It is even very possible to suggest that were it not for Maria, Galileo might not have lived long enough to publish his brilliance. She protected him from almost anything, whether it was the dangers of disease, or the inquisition. Always ready to offer her help, she edited Galileo's work so that there was enough ambiguity to claim the theories as hypothetical. In the end, Galileo was praised for his findings but Maria, who kept him alive long enough to make the findings was overlooked in history.
"A woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me."
- G.G.
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