Ernesta Bittanti Battisti (5 May 1871 – 5 October 1957) was an Italian journalist and educator. The daughter of a school principal, she was born Ernesta Bittanti in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

and grew up there and in Cremona and Cagliari. She enrolled at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

in 1890. Her dwelling there became the center of a circle of intellectuals which included

Gaetano Salvemini Gaetano Salvemini (; 8 September 1873 – 6 September 1957) was an Italian Socialist and antifascist politician, historian and writer. Born in a family of modest means, he became an acclaimed historian both in Italy and abroad, particularly in ...

, , , and Cesare Battisti. She graduated in 1896 and began teaching. However, in 1898, Battisti was banned from teaching because of her political activities. At the second congress of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...

, she suggested that a socialist newspaper be created and the daily ''Il Popolo'' appeared in April 1900 with Battisti and her husband as editors. In March 1906, she began a campaign advocating

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, which was in direct opposition to the views of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In August 1914, the ''Il Popolo'' ceased publication and Battisti left Trento and returned to teaching. In 1911, she wrote the lyrics to ', a popular song in the province of

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

, with music by Guglielmo Bussoli, who also recorded it in the same year. The song was suppressed by the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

authorities when it was first published. She married Cesare Battisti in an 1899 civil marriage and moved to

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

. The couple had three sons. Her husband was executed by the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

in July 1916. She took on the task of editing his political writings, which were published in 1923. In 1930, she moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with her sons. She was opposed to the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and its

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...

which discriminated against

Italian Jews Italian Jews ( it, Ebrei Italiani, he, יהודים איטלקים ''Yehudim Italkim'') or Roman Jews ( it, Ebrei Romani, he, יהודים רומים ''Yehudim Romim'') can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in I ...

. Following the

Badoglio Proclamation The Badoglio Proclamation was a speech read on Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR) at 19:42 on 8 September 1943 by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Italian head of government, announcing that the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the ...

in September 1943, the family fled to

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

in Switzerland. They returned to Trento at the end of the war. Battisti died in Trento at the age of 86 following an extended illness. She continued to write till the end. Her son served in the Constituent Assembly of Italy and was mayor of Trento. He died in a rail accident in 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battisti, Ernesta Bittanti 1871 births 1957 deaths Italian women journalists 19th-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian women writers Italian writers Italian educators