On June 2nd eighty years ago, for the first time ever at a national level, Italian women exercised their right to vote both in the referendum between monarchy and republic and in the election of the Constituent Assembly which 18 months later would complete the drafting of the Italian Constitution.
From the ashes of the war therefore a new Italy arose, also and above all for the fairer sex, who not only managed to obtain the much desired right to vote, but also to have 21 representatives elected, who would go down in history with the name of “constituent mothers”.
Who were the 21 “constituent mothers”
An often overlooked story, that of the “constituent mothers” represents in a certain sense the symbol of the transition to republican and democratic Italy.
They were representatives of the various parties present in the country: nine elected in the ranks of Christian Democracynine from Communist Partytwo socialists and one from Everyman’s Liberal Democratic Front.
226 had been candidates, but only 21 managed to obtain a seat, out of a total of 556 deputies. Their names: Adele Bei, Bianca Bianchi, Laura Bianchini, Elisabetta Conci, Filomena Delli Castelli, Maria Federici, Nadia Gallico Spano, Angela Gotelli, Angela Guidi Cingolani, Nilde Iotti, Maria Jervolino De Unterrichter, Teresa Mattei, Lina Merlin, Angiola Minella, Rita Montagnana, Marina Nicotra, Teresa Noce, Ottavia Penni Buscemi, Elettra Pollastrini, Maria Maddalena Rossi and Adele Bei.
Very different from each other in terms of age, culture and profession, but they all came from previous experiences of social and political commitment, often characterized by opposition to fascism; indeed, in many cases they had been active members in the Resistence.
Among them there were teachers, workers, lawyers, chemists and trade unionists. Lina Merlin it was there first woman to be elected to the Senate of the Republic. Teresa Noce she was born in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Turin and began working at the age of six, first as a bread seller, then as an ironer, seamstress and turner at Fiat, before becoming one of the most combative figures of the Communist Party.
Teresa Mattei she was the youngest elected to the Constituent Assembly, where she held the position of secretary of the presidential office, after having been a fighter in Garibaldi’s Youth Front formation.
Their contribution
In the halls of the newborn Republic the “Constituent Mothers”, in addition to giving their contribution to the drafting of the Italian Constitution, they brought the sphere of the “private” under the light of public law.
Many ITs, women’s work and the protection of the family stopped being marginal issues to become pillars of the State. Five of them entered the Commission of 75, charged with writing the Constitutional Charter. Let’s talk about Maria Federici, Angela Gotelli, Lina Merlin, Teresa Noce And Nilde Iotti.
The articles of the Constitution where the intervention and influence of the constituent mothers are most evident are articles 3, 29, 30, 31, 37, 48 and 51. On Article 3, relating to equalitywomen proposed that equal social dignity be guaranteed without distinction of sex.
The expression “of sex” was in fact considered superfluous by many male colleagues, but the Constituents justified the importance of that explanation by recalling how deeply rooted discrimination against women was in the legal system and culture.
Particular attention was also paid to family themestarting from the equality of spouses: there were quite a few clashes with most of the male colleagues, who supported the need for a hierarchical system within the family, with the husband at the top.
Teresa Noce, Nilde Iotti and Maria Federici achieved that motherhood was recognized as a social valuewhile as regards article 37, Teresa Noce fought hard for equal pay for equal work to be recognised.
The importance of a story that was little known until now
Yet, despite such a decisive contribution, for decades these women remained in the shadows. For a long time, a certain generalized oblivion surrounded the twenty-one Italian women elected to the Constituent Assembly on 2 June 1946.
Also to bring to light this very often forgotten history of Italy, Bonelli Heir last May 7th organized an event entitled “Women who made Italy: at the roots of our Constitution“.
With the participation of Marta Cartabiaformer Minister of Justice and the first woman to hold the position of President of the Constitutional Court, the event also saw the participation Eliana CatalanoManaging Partner of Bonelli Erede, to which Panorama had the pleasure of asking some questions on the importance of the “constituent mothers”.
«If our Constitutional Charter had not also had mothers, but only fathers, probably some regulatory achievements would have had less voice and took longer before being accepted», Catalano tells Panorama.
«They are the ones who sowed the seed of principles that would later inspire equal pay, parental leave, laws on gender violence and the economic autonomy of women: an evolution that is not only legal, but also social and cultural.”
Furthermore, as stated by the Managing Partner of Bonelli Erede, «from their experience we also draw another fundamental lesson» for today, because «women of different political and professional backgrounds knew how to work together, overcoming ideological differencesto build a common vision for the country and for future generations.”
«The women who came before us opened paths that seemed impossible, united by a shared goal. Today we can, in that same spirit, explore and expand them.”
