Accademia Galileiana

The Accademia Galileiana ('Galilean academy') is a learned society in the city of Padua in Italy.

It was founded as the Accademia dei Ricovrati in Padua in 1599, on the initiative of a Venetian nobleman, Federico Cornaro.

The name "ricovrati" literally means 'sheltered' and the academy took its name from a line from Boethius, "Bipatens animis asylum" (Latin, 'a sanctuary of the soul open at both ends'), related to a scene by Homer (Odyssey, book 13) describing a cave, open at both ends, and sheltered by an olive tree.

These included the first woman in Europe to receive a university diploma, Elena Cornaro Piscopia.

Antonio Vallisneri became president of the academy in 1722, and proceeded to enact a series of reforms based on the principles of the Enlightenment.