Caterina di Meo Lippi

Common card · No. 370226

Caterina di Meo Lippi (c. 1436 – July 1493) is commonly identified as the mother of Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci. Little is known about Caterina's life and she has been the subject of scholarly debate. While some scholars believe that Caterina was an Arab or Chinese slave, a book published by Martin Kemp and the archival researcher Giuseppe Pallanti says that Caterina was born in 1436 to a poor farmer, was orphaned at the age of 14 and gave birth to Leonardo da Vinci at the age of 16. According to the book Caterina later had five more children with a different man.

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