L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano T heir names might not be familiar, but their stories will likely feel so. I n t h e e n d , a l l stories resemble one another – even in their differences – because they belong to us. They transcend time, and anyone who shares their own story may realize how much it echoes those of others. Take Nina Siciliana, for instance. Around 1240, she was a poet and one of the ear- liest writers to use what we now call the Italian language. She wrote in the vernacular and is even cited by the Acca- demia della Crusca. Very lit- tle is known about her, and some even question whether she existed at all. In the 14th century, it was n e a r l y i m p o s s i b l e f o r a woman to become a surgeon, let alone earn the title Magi- stra, which she did in 1376. Her name was Virdimura, a Jewish doctor whose medical knowledge and skills were officially recognized by the royal commission and the Dienchelele, who authorized her to treat the poorest and most vulnerable across the entire kingdom. At a time when medicine was an almost exclusively male profession, Virdimura's success was the result of both expertise and determination. There was also a victim of the Spanish Inquisition: Eulalia Tama- rit Sanchez, the first Jewish woman to be tried. The French writer George Sand is famously known for w e a r i n g t r o u s e r s , a b o l d move for a woman in the 19th century, as evidenced by pho- tographs. But F r a n c i s c a Massara, a Sicilian woman, had already done so 150 years earlier. Maria Teresa Gargotta, from Termini Imerese, was another pioneer: she became the first woman in Sicily to found a museum. Born in 1798 into a noble family, she h a d t h e r e s o u r c e s a n d encouragement to follow her passions. From the age of f i v e , s h e s h o w e d a n e a r l y interest in the natural sci- ences, particularly malacolo- gy and palaeontology, which she studied seriously from the age of fifteen with support from her teacher. Her collec- t i o n o f s p e c i m e n s g r e w steadily and expanded fur- ther after her marriage, as she acquired materials from C e y l o n a n d o t h e r d i s t a n t places. She also assembled a s i g n i f i c a n t c o l l e c t i o n o f ancient coins. She was the mother of Antonino Sali- nas, founder and first direc- tor of the Royal Archaeologi- cal Museum of Palermo, now k n o w n a s t h e S a l i n a s Museum, named after him following his death. Very few people know the name of Luigi Pirandello's mother; at most, they might recall that she gave birth to the playwright in the family's "House of Chaos," during a time of fear: fear that her husband Stefano wouldn't make it back in time for the delivery, and fear of a cholera outbreak sweeping through the region. Her name was Caterina Ricci Gramitto and, in addition to raising s i x c h i l d r e n – i n c l u d i n g Luigi, who would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Liter- ature in 1934 – she was a fer- vent patriot. It was she who sewed the first Italian flag in Sicily, the tricolor, during Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand. Few people have heard of Sicily's pioneering women in other fields, either. There was Laura von Gonzen- bach from Messina (born 1840), a trailblazer in ethnol- ogy; P i a M a r i a N a l l i of P a l e r m o ( b o r n 1 8 8 6 ) , a prominent mathematician; and Serafina Quattrocchi, born in 1901 in Mazzarino (Caltanissetta), who became t h e f i r s t w o m a n e l e c t e d mayor in Italy. Then there's Francesca Serio, known to many sim- ply as "Mamma Carnevale," a symbol of resistance against the Sicilian Mafia. After her son Turiddu Carnevale was murdered, she dedicated her l i f e t o f i g h t i n g o r g a n i z e d crime. Minerva Impalà was the first Sicilian woman elected to the regional parliament; and well before the more widely known Franca Viola, Maria Rosa Vitale of Tra- pani (born 1922) was the first Sicilian woman to reject a so- called "rehabilitating" mar- riage, an act of remarkable courage in its time. From that same city, Trapani, came Carla Accardi (born 1924), a pioneering figure in con- t e m p o r a r y a r t a n d a c o - founder of the feminist group Rivolta Femminile. No list would be complete without Letizia Battaglia, an internationally acclaimed photojournalist and tireless witness to the brutal reality of Mafia violence. Through her camera lens, she chroni- cled both horror and hope, consistently using her work to speak out for justice, dig- nity, and the power of beau- ty. And speaking of beauty: Nerina Chiarenza, born in Acireale in 1934 and still liv- ing today, is the only woman to have ever painted tradi- tional Sicilian carts. An artist by birth and by training, her works are now exhibited in museums in Paris and New York. Even now, she wel- comes visitors into her home to share her story and her art. Equally rooted in Sicilian tradition is Sister Marina, born Anna Cuticchio in 1945. A pupara (puppet mas- ter) from a young age, she m a r r i e d e a r l y , b e c a m e a mother, and later founded her own puppet theater and company in Palermo. As the first known female pupara in the world, she drew attention from journalists across Italy, Germany, and the United S t a t e s . W h e n h e r Bradamante Theater closed in 1996, she didn't stop. She took her puppets and her art on the road, traveling across countries in a van, keeping the ancient Sicilian puppetry tradition alive wherever she went. One day, using puppets she had made herself, she staged the life of Saint Mari- na of Bithynia, a Christian f i g u r e w h o h a d d e e p l y inspired her: moved by the saint's mysticism, she left puppetry behind and became a missionary in Tanzania. There, she spent twelve years caring for the poor, the sick, and especially children, com- m u n i c a t i n g w i t h t h e m through the puppets she con- tinued to make by hand. On returning to Palermo, she earned a university degree and eventually took religious vows, becoming Sister Mari- na. There are still many more pioneering Sicilian women worth naming, but we will close by mentioning just two contemporary figures from the world of science. Anna G r a s s e l l i n o , b o r n i n Marsala in 1981, now leads the SQMS Center in the Unit- ed States, where the world's m o s t p o w e r f u l q u a n t u m computer is being developed. And Caterina Alfano, born in Palermo in 1976, works at t h e R i . M E D F o u n d a t i o n , conducting research on neu- rodegenerative diseases. The stories of these and many other pioneering Sicil- ian women are collected in a book written by a group of women – and a few men – brought together by a shared goal: to recognize and cele- b r a t e w o m e n w h o , o f t e n against the odds, fought to pursue their passions and succeeded. At a time when the rise in femicides seeks to diminish women and reduce them to the status of objects in the hands of violent men, telling these stories feels all the more necessary. For this reason, deep thanks are owed to the authors of Pioniere s i c i l i a n e . S t o r i e d i coraggio e nuovi inizi, published by Navarra: Leolu- ca Cascio, Manlio Corselli, Tiziana Crivello, Teresa Di Fresco, Sara Favarò (who also served as editor), Clau- d i a F u c a r i n o , E l e o n o r a Fogazza, Sandra Vita Guddo, Giuseppe Lo Bianco, France- s c a L u z z i o , A l e s s a n d r a Muschella, Maria Oliveri, Anna Rita Pinsino, and Mari- za Rusignolo. Pioneering women of Sicily: bold lives, lasting legacies TERESA DI FRESCO The cover of Pioniere Siciliane, created by Tiziana Crivello (Image courtesy of Teresa Di Fresco) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS

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