Attivismo Politico Femminile nell'Epoca del Risorgimento Italiano: Una lettura di Giannina Milli ed Emilia Toscanelli Peruzzi come figure protofemministe

This research utilises a microhistorical analysis of the poet Giannina Milli (1825–1888) and the salonniér Emilia Toscanelli Peruzzi (1827–1900) to reveal the existence of an Italian protofeminism in the 1850s. It shows how their contributions went beyond the process of national unification to anticipate forms of women’s political and social activism. Milli employed improvisational poetry as a tool of patriotic popularisation, legitimising women’s presence in the public sphere, while Toscanelli Peruzzi, who held a long personal and professional relationship with Milli, used her Florentine salon to create social and political networks in traditionally male spaces. Although neither identified as feminist, their practices helped shape early women’s activism. By tracing both the potential and contradictions of this protofeminism, the thesis highlights the Risorgimento as not only a nation-building project but also a formative moment in the construction of Italian women’s political identity.

Publisher

University of Galway

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND

cbn

Collections

University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)