Teresa Meroni Explained

Teresa Meroni (5 June 1885 – 17 October 1951), also called as Teresina, was an Italian worker, trade unionist, and socialist.^[1] She led one of Italy's labour movements and defended workers' rights.^[2]

Biography

Born as Teresa Milano Meroni on 5 June 1885 in Milan, Italy, Teresa Meroni came from a family of modest means, which prevented her from having an access to good education.^[3] In 1905, she joined the Socialist Party, which was founded in Genoa in 1892, to protect workers' rights. She was active in mobilizing women workers to join Socialist Party.^[4]

She married Giovan Battista Tettamanti, a noted trade union leader and communist activist. They later moved to Val di Bisenzio, exactly at Vaiano.^[5] Tettamanti, who was leading the Vaianese Wool League, left it following Italy's entry into war. Meroni later took the leadership of Vaianese Wool League.^[2] She is known for leading a march of 1500 women employed in the factories of Val di Bisenzio.

In 1932, she was arrested “for communist activity… and deported to an island confinement colony”.^{[6] [7]}

She died on 17 October 1951 in Como.

Notes and References

1. Book: Perretta, Giusto . 1998. L'antifascismo nel Comasco: 1919-1943. 22 February 2023. Como . Istituto comasco per la storia del movimento di liberazione . 194.
2. Book: Affortunati, Alessandro . 2000. Vaiano e la sua casa del popolo: il movimento operaio nella Valle del Bisenzio. 22 February 2023. Prato, Italy. Pentalinea . 33. 978-8-886-85512-9.
3. Book: Gabrielli, Patrizia . 1999. Fenicotteri in volo: donne comuniste nel ventennio fascista. 22 February 2023. Rome . Carocci . 123. 978-8-843-01245-9.
4. Book: Noce, Tiziana . 2004. Nella città degli uomini: donne e pratica della politica a Livorno fra guerra e ricostruzione . 22 February 2023. Soveria Mannelli . Rubbettino Editore . 97. 978-8-849-80843-8.
5. Book: Coltro, Gabriele . 2018. Il tesoro del Duce. La storia dei valori sequestrati a Dongo alla colonna Mussolini e finiti al Partito Comunista . 22 February 2023. Florence, Italy . goWare . NA. 978-8-867-97994-3.
6. Book: Ebner, Michael R. . 2011. Ordinary Violence in Mussolini's Italy. 22 February 2023. Cambridge, England . Cambridge University Press . 93. 978-0-521-76213-7.
7. Book: Gabrielli, Patrizia . 2000. Mondi di carta: lettere, autobiografie, memorie. 22 February 2023. Toronto . Protagon . 120. 978-8-880-24058-7.