Born in 1934, Angelica Frisa pursued an academic and professional path that challenged the gender barriers of her time.
She entered academia in 1958 as an extraordinary assistant at the Chair of Mining Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin.
Later, among various responsibilities, she served as a voluntary assistant at the Chair of Mineral Preparation until 1980, when she obtained the position of associate professor at the Chair of Metallurgical Processes.
Her passion for mineralogy resulted in numerous scientific publications and her role as President of the European Standardization Committee for ornamental stones. Through her dedication, she made significant contributions to the drafting of Italian and European regulations in the field of ornamental stones, establishing her authority both nationally and internationally.

One of her most notable achievements was related to petrographic studies of marbles, which led to the identification of the quarry from which the black marble used by Guarino Guarini in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud was extracted. Thanks to her expertise, she coordinated the investigations and contributed to accelerating the restoration of the Chapel using some of the original materials, demonstrating her prominent role in architectural restoration.

However, despite her considerable scientific contributions and dedication to mineralogy, Frisa faced difficulties in obtaining a stable and recognized academic position. It was only with the reform of academic appointments in 1980 that she secured a more consolidated role as an associate professor.
Her professional trajectory underscores how women’s advancement in technical disciplines was conditioned by long-standing institutional barriers, with vertical segregation delaying access to recognised academic positions well into the late twentieth century.