Ninetta Bartoli

Antonia "Ninetta" Bartoli (24 September 1896 – 30 November 1978) was an Italian politician. She became one of the first women mayors in Italy when she was elected in her native town of Borutta, Sardinia, in 1946.

Life and career Born into a noble family in the small town of Borutta, in the Meilogu historical region of Sardinia, Ninetta Bartoli was educated at the prestigious "" Institute of Sassari. Contrarily to her sister, who got married and left their hometown, Bartoli remained single and became more closely involved with the local Catholic community, after meeting missionary .

During the Fascist regime, Bartoli was socially engaged in her parish, and actively opposed gender inequalities. In 1945, when Fascism fell and opposition parties were legalized, she assumed the role of the secretary for the local section of the Christian Democracy party (DC). The following year, after women were legally allowed to be electoral candidates, she successfully ran for mayor of Borutta with the support of the most prominent DC members in the provincemost notably the Segni family, whose member Antonio Segni would go on to be elected President of the Italian Republic; Bartoli was friends with his wife . She won the municipal election with 332 votes out of a total of 371, corresponding to a rate of 89%. She was re-elected twice and remained in office until 1958, when she lost the support of younger DC members, who had replaced many of the older politicians. a public square was also named after her.