Italian women and the quest for legal rights : the case of Teresa Labriola (1871-1941) and Lidia Poët (1855-1949)

Teresa Labriola and Lidia Poët are two pioneers of the fight for women’s rights. Despite being among the first Italian women to graduate from the Faculty of Law at respectively the University of Rome and the University of Torino, they were inescapably limited in the pursuit of a professional career. Inspired by their own personal experiences, they started openly questioning the restricting values of patriarchal society and the lack of legal and political rights for women in their essays and conferences. Not only did they fight their individual battles by triggering the public debate, they also wanted to create more awareness among the broader female population, which is why they soon discovered the possibilities of the periodical press. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how Labriola and Poët turned to the periodical press, in particular to La Donna – Rivista quindicinale illustrata (1904-1968) and La Nostra Rivista Femminile (1914-1917), and used it as a weapon in their quest for women’s legal rights.Teresa Labriola and Lidia Poët are two pioneers of the fight for women’s rights. Despite being among the first Italian women to graduate from the Faculty of Law at respectively the University of Rome and the University of Torino, they were inescapably limited in the pursuit of a professional career. Inspired by their own personal experiences, they started openly questioning the restricting values of patriarchal society and the lack of legal and political rights for women in their essays and conferences. Not only did they fight their individual battles by triggering the public debate, they also wanted to create more awareness among the broader female population, which is why they soon discovered the possibilities of the periodical press. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how Labriola and Poët turned to the periodical press, in particular to La Donna – Rivista quindicinale illustrata (1904-1968) and La Nostra Rivista Femminile (1914-1917), and used it as a weapon in their quest for women’s legal rights.C