Teresa Mattei
Teresa Mattei | |
|---|---|
Teresa Mattei in the 1940s | |
| Member of the Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 25 June 1946 – 31 January 1948 | |
| Constituency | Florence |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 February 1921 |
| Died | 12 March 2013 (aged 92) Casciana Terme Lari, Italy |
| Party | Italian Communist Party (–1957) |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 4, including Gianfranco Sanguinetti |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Occupation |
|
| Profession | Teacher |
Teresa "Teresita" Mattei (1 February 1921 – 12 March 2013) was an Italian partisan and politician.
Early and personal life
Born in Genoa, in 1938 Mattei was expelled from all schools of the Kingdom of Italy for openly criticizing the Racial laws during class.[1][2] Graduating in philosophy at the University of Florence in 1944,[3] she joined the partisans under the nom de guerre of Partigiana Chicchi.[1][4] She took part in the murder of philosopher and Fascist minister Giovanni Gentile.[5][6]
She was briefly married to Bruno Sanguinetti, with whom she had a son, writer Gianfranco Sanguinetti.
Career
After the war, Mattei was a candidate for the Communist Party to the Constituent Assembly, in which she served as a bureau secretary. Mattei was the youngest to be elected to the Constituent Assembly and was thus called "the girl of Montecitorio".[1][4]
In 1957, Mattei was expelled from the Communist Party because of her opposition to Stalinism and to Palmiro Togliatti's politics.[4] She later became national director of the Italian Women's Union (UDI) and introduced the use of mimosa for International Women's Day (IWD)[1] at the request of Luigi Longo.[7] Mattei felt that the French symbols of IWD, violets and lilies-of-the-valley, were too scarce and expensive to be used in poor, rural Italian areas, so she proposed the mimosa as an alternative.[4][8][7]
Death
Mattei died in Lari, Tuscany, aged 92,[7] the last living female member of the Constituent Assembly of Italy.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Redazione Il Fatto Quotidiano (12 March 2013). "Addio a Teresa Mattei, era l'ultima donna rimasta tra le elette alla Costituente". Il Fatto (in Italian). Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ Gabrielli, Patrizia. Il 1946, le donne, la Repubblica (in Italian). Donzelli Editore, 2009. ISBN 886036440X.
- ^ Magi, Lucía (26 March 2013). "Teresa Mattei, símbolo de la resistencia al fascismo". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d Pacini, Patrizia. La costituente: storia di Teresa Mattei (in Italian). Altreconomia, 2011. ISBN 8865160411.
- ^ Paoletti, Paolo. Il delitto Gentile (in Italian). Le Lettere, 2005. ISBN 8871668944.
- ^ Carioti, Antonio (6 August 2004). "«Sanguinetti venne a dirmi che Gentile doveva morire»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Pirro, Dierdre (25 March 2013). "Teresa Mattei, Flower power". The Florentine. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ Fantone, Laura; Franciosi, Ippolita (2005). (R)Esistenze: il passaggio della staffetta (in Italian). Morgana. ISBN 8889033312.