Sandra Mifsud Bonnici will deliver a public lecture titled "The 'Wonder Women' of the Baroque Age." The lecture will be held at Din l-Art Ħelwa, 133 Melita Street, Valletta on Thursday 2 February at 18:30. The lecture is organised by the International Institute for Baroque Studies in collaboration with Din l-Art Ħelwa.
Women in eighteenth century Malta do not seem to have been much different from their European counterparts. The majority were under the control of their men; husbands, brothers, fathers or even sons. With the limited sources available to us, women are usually described in stereotypes such as married women, nuns, witches and prostitutes.
This talk will present the difficulties encountered in women’s studies and how new information about them was tapped using an innovative methodology. It will go on to show that a substantial number of 'wonder women' managed to overcome great difficulties brought about by the many restrictions imposed on them by law and society to take an active role in the economy.
Sandra Mifsud Bonnici is a Senior Lecturer in Systems of Knowledge at the Junior College, University of Malta and also a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy, in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, at the same University. She read for a Master of Arts in Baroque Studies offered by the International Institute of Baroque Studies at the University of Malta, where she graduated in November 2015 with her dissertation entitled 'Women in Eighteenth Century Malta, Legal and Social Aspects.'