Veronica Franco

Veronica Franco (c. 1546–1591) was a Venetian poet and a cortigiana onesta, an honoured courtesan whose humanist learning gave her access to Venice's leading literary circles. As a girl she received a humanist education from her brother's tutor.

Briefly married as a teenager, she was listed among Venice's leading courtesans in 1565 and joined Domenico Venier's salon. She published two books, of verse in 1575 and of letters in 1580.

After she left Venice during the plague of 1575, her home and possessions were looted and she lost much of her wealth. Charged with witchcraft before the Inquisition in 1577, she successfully defended herself, but died in poverty in 1591.