Played by Matilda De Angelis in the Netflix series “The law of Lidia Poet”, whose second season has just been released on the streaming platform, Lidia Poet was the first woman in Italy to join the Bar Association. Born in 1855, in the province of Turin to a wealthy family, Lida was a girl with a passion for justice and spent her childhood in Traverse di Perrero and then moved as a teenager to Pinerolo together with her older brother Giovanni Enrico, already a lawyer and owner of a law firm. She attended college in Switzerland, obtaining the title first of Normal Superior Teacher and then that of English, German and French teacher. Having returned to Pinerolo, after the loss of her parents, she decided to continue her studies by enrolling in the faculty of law at the University of Turin, after leaving the faculty of Medicine.
Studies and registration with the Bar Association
Lidia graduated in law in 1881 with a thesis on the condition of women in society and on the right to vote for women. He practiced law in Pinerolo, at the office of the lawyer and senator Cesare Bertea and after the internship he passed the qualifying exam with a 45/50 mark, requesting registration in the Turin Order of Lawyers and Prosecutors. This is a request which, however, does not seem to please some of the supporters such as Desiderato Chiaves, former Minister of the Interior, and Federico Spantigati who resigned from the Order in protest. The president of the Order, however, voted in favor of her together with four other councilors by appealing to the law which specified that “women are citizens like men” and on 9 August 1883 Lidia Poët became the first woman admitted to the practice of advocacy.
Cancellation from the Register
After Lidia Poët’s registration in the Register, the Prosecutor of the Kingdom decided to question the legitimacy of this by appealing to the Turin Court of Appeal to have Poët’s qualification revoked. In 1883 the Court accepted the request and ordered Lidia’s cancellation from the Register. She then appealed but the sentence of 18 April 1884 confirmed the decision to leave her out of the register, declaring that “a woman cannot practice law”. What happened caused a heated debate in Italy with 25 newspapers in favor of the fact that women could have public roles and three against. Although Lidia was unable to practice her profession, she still collaborated with her brother and was very active in defending the rights of minors, women and the marginalized, also supporting women’s suffrage.
The law that changed everything for women
It is 1919 and, specifically, 17 July when law 1179, the so-called Sacchi law, authorized women to enter public offices with the abolition of marital authorization. All except that of the judiciary, politics and military roles.
“Women are admitted, on an equal basis to men, to practice all professions and to cover all public jobs, excluding only, if they are not expressly admitted by law, those which imply jurisdictional public powers or the exercise of rights. and political powers relating to the defense of the State”
39 years after graduating, Lidia officially enters the Bar Association
It was only in 1920 and 39 years after her law degree that Lidia Poët managed to officially enter the Bar Association, at the age of 65, becoming the first lawyer in Italy.
Lidia died, unmarried, at the age of 94.
The law of Lidia Poet 2: the review
