To celebrate International Women's Day, we take a look at six groundbreaking Italian women from the worlds of politics, science, art, and academia.

Trota, the world's first gynaecologist. In the 11th and early 12th century, Trota worked as a doctor in the coastal city of Salerno. She is generally considered to have been the world's first gynaecologist and thought to have been the first female professor at the city's renowned medical school. Though we don't know much about her life, she produced a series of important medical writings which have survived.