Tina Anselmi

Tina Anselmi
Minister of Health
In office 11 March 1978 – 4 August 1979
Prime Minister	Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Luciano Dal Falco
Succeeded by	Renato Altissimo
Minister of Labour and Social Security
In office 29 July 1976 – 11 March 1978
Prime Minister	Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Mario Toros
Succeeded by	Vincenzo Scotti
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 5 June 1968 – 22 April 1992
Constituency	Venice–Treviso
Personal details
Born	(1927-03-25)25 March 1927 Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
Died	1 November 2016(2016-11-01) (aged 89) Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
Political party	Christian Democracy
Alma mater	Catholic University of Milan

Tina Anselmi (25 March 1927 – 1 November 2016) was an Italian politician. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, she went on to become the first woman to hold a ministerial position in an Italian government.^[1][2]

Early life

Anselmi was born in Castelfranco Veneto, in the province of Treviso. Her father was an assistant pharmacist persecuted by the fascists because he was socialist, and her mother and grandmother ran an inn together.^[3]

She attended the local high school, and then the Teaching Institute in Bassano del Grappa. On 26 September 1944, Nazi soldiers forced her and a group of other students to witness the hanging of a group of 31 young Partisans.^[4] As a result, she joined the Italian Resistance movement and became part of the Cesare Battisti brigade. That year, she also joined the Christian Democracy Party. After World War II, she studied literature at the Catholic University of Milan and became a primary school teacher.^[3][4]

Political career

While working as a teacher, Anselmi held positions in Christian trade unions, including the primary teachers' union from 1948–55.^[3] In 1959, she joined the national council of the Christian Democracy Party, and she was the party's deputy leader from 1968–92.^[5] In 1963, she was elected vice-president of the Female Board of the European Union. From 1958–64, she was head of the Christian Democracy party's youth programmes.^[3]

From 1968 to 1987, she was a Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, re-elected five times in the Venice-Treviso district. She served three times as undersecretary to the Department of Labour and Social Services, and in 1976 she became the first woman to be a member of an Italian cabinet, being chosen by Giulio Andreotti as Minister for Labour and Social Security. She held this position from 1976–79.^[6] She served as Minister for Health from 1978 to 1979.^[4]

Anselmi is best known for having been the main proposer of Italian laws on equal opportunities, a matter she always fought for in her political life. For example in 1977, she passed a bill which recognized fathers as primary caregivers for their children, and allowed for both fathers and mothers to have time away for their children.^[6] In the same year, a major piece of legislation was passed on gender parity in employment conditions, of which Anselmi was a key supporter.^[7] She chaired the National Equal Opportunities Commission until 1994,^[7] and played a significant role in the introduction of Italy's National Health Service.^[4]

In 1981, she headed the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the illegal P2 Masonic Lodge (Commissione parlamentare d’inchiesta sulla Loggia massonica P2); the lodge, at the time, was considered a threat to society. Anselmi wrote the commission's final majority report that was approved in 1984, and all activity of the lodge ceased the following year.^[4][8]

Anselmi was the chair of a commission of inquiry into the work of Italian soldiers in Somalia, and of a national commission on the consequences of laws for the Italian Jewish community. She was an honorary vice president of the National Institute for the History of the Liberation Movement in Italy.^[9]

Later in her life, she began to write about her experiences in the Resistance; in 2003, she wrote Zia, cos'è la Resistenza? (Auntie, what's the Resistance?), a book explaining the Italian Resistance to young people.^[10][11]

In 2004, she wrote a second book for young people, titled Bella ciao: la resistenza raccontata ai ragazzi (Hey beautiful: the Resistance explained to children).^[12]

In 2006, she published her memoir together with Anna Vinci, as Storia Di Una Passione Politica (Story of a Passion for Politics).^[13]

Death

Anselmi died at home in Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, on 31 October 2016, aged 89.^[4]

Recognition and awards

On 18 June 1998, Anselmi was awarded the Knight's Great Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.^[14]

In June 2016, Anselmi was featured on an Italian postage stamp, the only living person to be honoured in this way.^[15]

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1968	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	40,467	Y Elected
1972	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	38,389	Y Elected
1976	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	74,403	Y Elected
1979	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	77,944	Y Elected
1983	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	49,415	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Venice–Treviso		DC	57,235	Y Elected

Honours

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 18 June 1998.^[16]

References

External links

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