Maria Cunitz

A sculpture of Maria Cunitz in Świdnica, Poland.
Credit: Sueroski

Maria Cunitz was born in the early 1600s in what is now the country of Poland and was an accomplished Silesian astronomer. She never received any formal education, but her parents were well-educated which likely led to her mastering of seven languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Polish, German, French, and Italian). She was also a gifted mathematician and had a keen interest in astronomy. Cunitz had to flee Silesia for central Poland during part of the Thirty Years' War, but she made the most of this move by spending her time assembling a set of astronomical tables. These tables built on the work of Johannes Kepler's Rudolphine Tables of 1627. After the end of the war, Cunitz was able to return to Silesia where she published her astronomical tables using the title Urania propitia. This immense work contained hundreds of pages of tables that allowed one to determine the location of each of the planets and a variety of other parameters as well; no similar work had ever been published by a female astronomer. Urania propitia also contained a preface by her husband who wanted to convey the message that he had nothing to do with it and that it was solely the work of Maria.

Maria Cunitz's Urania propitia.
Credit: Linda Hall Library

As with other notable female astronomers, a crater on the planet Venus is named after her - Cunitz Crater is named in her honor.

The impact crater Cunitz is visible in the center of this 3D perspective view of the surface of Venus.
Credit: NASA/JPL