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Who was Teresa Destito, Giambattista Vico’s wife?
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Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico, from an Italian postage stamp, 1968.
Teresa Destito was a childhood friend of the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, whom he married in December 1699.1
While she was described as well-intentioned, she was nearly illiterate and lacked the capacity to understand Vico’s intellectual life. Their marriage was marked by significant personal hardship, including the early deaths of three of their eight children and the imprisonment of their son, Ignazio, due to his debts.1