When we talk about women’s suffrage in Italy, the June 2, 1946day of the institutional referendum and the election of the Constituent Assembly. In reality, the “debut” of women in political life occurred a little earlier: on March 10, 1946when in many Italian municipalities they voted for first post-war local elections. On that occasion, Italian women were able to go to the polls for the first time.
Voting for women: an international overview
All over the world, women’s electoral rights – both active and passive – have been recognized later than men. Until the nineteenth century, in the vast majority of states no one had the right to vote and power was administered by an authority, usually the sovereign, who held his position “by the grace of God.” Where voting was expected, it was limited to few categories of mengenerally those who were richer or endowed with noble titles. Women were excluded based on the idea that they did not have the capacity to deal with public affairs, with the exception of very few and limited cases.
In the nineteenth century, however, it developed in many countries a movement for women’s right to votethe movement of suffragettes (so called because they asked for suffrage).
Gradually the movement succeeded in obtaining what it asked for. The first state to fully guarantee women’s right to vote was New Zealand in 1893. In the following years other countries followed suit and between the 1910s and 1920s women’s suffrage was recognized in the United Kingdom, the United States and various states in central and northern Europe. Mediterranean countries were excluded, including France and Italy.
From war to turning point: 1945–1946
The turning point came in the final phase of the Second World War and in the political climate that accompanied the Liberation. The anti-fascists had a much more open and modern attitude and already in some partisan republics – the States established temporarily in the liberated territories – women, in certain cases, were admitted to vote and participation in political life.
At the end of the war, women’s suffrage was finally recognized. The first step was the Lieutenant legislative decree of 1 February 1945, n. 23That extended the right to vote to womenmentioning however only the active electorate. The following year, the decree that defined the rules for the election of the Constituent Assembly recognized and specified the methods of female participation, recognizing the right to be elected.
Women voting: 10 March 1946
Italian women enjoyed the right to vote for the first time in round of local elections which was held from March 10 to early April 1946 in almost all municipalities in the country. On that occasion, the first women were elected to the municipal councils and two became mayors: Ada Natali in Massa Fermana (province of Ascoli Piceno, today Fermo) e Ninetta Bartoli in Borutta (Sassari).
It was a turning point of enormous importance: for the first time, there were women recognized as full citizenscapable of influencing public choices.
After March 10: June 2 and the “constituent mothers”
A few months later, the June 2, 1946women participated in the institutional referendum and in the elections for the Constituent Assembly. 21 women, the “constituent mothers”, were elected and participated in the work of the Assembly, making an important contribution to the drafting of the Constitution.
Here are the names of the 9pm «constituent mothers»: Adele Bei (Communist Party), Bianca Bianchi (Socialist Party), Laura Bianchini (Christian Democracy), Elisabetta Conci (Christian Democracy), Maria De Unterrichter Jervolino (Christian Democracy), Filomena Delli Castelli (Christian Democracy), Maria Federici (Christian Democracy), Nadia Gallico Spano (Communist Party), Angela Gotelli (Christian Democracy), Angela Maria Guidi Cingolani (Christian Democracy), Nilde Iotti (Communist Party), Teresa Mattei (Communist Party), Angelina Merlin (Socialist Party), Angiola Minella Molinari (Communist Party), Rita Montagnana (Communist Party), Maria Nicotra (Christian Democracy), Teresa Noce (Communist Party), Ottavia Penna (Everyman Front), Elettra Pollastrini (Communist Party), Maria Maddalena Rossi (Communist Party), Vittoria Titomanlio (Christian Democracy).
Women’s suffrage was no longer questioned, but in our country Full gender equality has not yet been achieved. Just think of the difference in wages, the so-called gender pay gap.
