Linda Malnati

Linda Malnati (19 August 1855 – 22 October 1921) was an influential Italian women's rights activist, trade unionist, suffragist, pacifist and educator. She is remembered for her efforts to improve the working conditions of teachers from the 1890s, for her contributions to magazines calling for improved conditions for working women and, in the 1900s, for her support for votes for women. She was an active member of various women's organizations.

Early life and education Born on 19 August 1855 in Milan, Linda Malnati was the daughter of Giacomo and Carolina Pedrioli. Educated in the city's democratic environment, she acquired an interest in social justice and women's emancipation, strongly influenced by the feminists Laura Solera Mantegazza, Alessandrina Massini Ravizza and Anna Maria Mozzoni. as well as a national coordination committee. At the Milan Convention in April 1907 organized by the Catholics, she stressed the importance of votes for women.

In 1914, together with Clerci she proposed establishing a league for neutrality. During the First World War, she helped with civil assistance work and cared for refugees. From 1914 to 1920, she ran the Le Stelline orphanage with which she had long been associated. In 1917, she once again took up the cause of peace, promoting international involvement.

Suffering from a serious illness, Linda Malnati retired to Blevio on the eastern shore of Lake Como where she died on 22 October 1921.