Ersilia Caetani Lovatelli (1840–1925) was a pioneering Italian archaeologist and antiquities scholar at a time when such pursuits were nearly unthinkable for women. Born into the noble Caetani family in Rome, she became a self-taught expert in epigraphy, funerary customs, and the material culture of ancient Rome. In 1879, she became one of the first women admitted to the Accademia dei Lincei, Italy's most prestigious scientific academy. Her influential salon in Palazzo Lovatelli became a meeting place for leading scholars, writers, and political figures, from Theodor Mommsen to Giosuè Carducci. She published extensively on Roman antiquities, combining rigorous scholarship with prose that made ancient culture accessible to broader audiences.