Niamh Cullen On 8 March 2014, a 66-year-old Sicilian woman was awarded the title of Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica by Italian president Giorgio Napolitano. He bestowed the highest honour of the Italian Republic upon Franca Viola in a public ceremony to mark International Women’s Da, honouring her role in a […]
Author: Niamh Cullen
What’s Amore? Courtship and marriage in post-war Italy
Niamh Cullen In July 1955 Wanda Bontà, agony aunt for the popular Italian magazine Grand Hotel, received a letter that she was both amused and baffled by, if the response she published in her column is anything to go by. It was written by a young woman who sought advice […]