Angelina "Lina" Merlin (15 October 1887 – 16 August 1979) was an Italian politician, perhaps best known for authoring and promoting the so-called " Merlin law" which abolished state-regulated prostitution in Italy. She was also an activist and educator, and took part in the

Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

. The daughter of Giustina Poli, a teacher, and Fruttuoso Merlin, secretary for the municipality, she was born in

Pozzonovo Pozzonovo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southwest of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,589 and an area of .All demographic ...

, and grew up in

Chioggia Chioggia (; vec, Cióxa , locally ; la, Clodia) is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the L ...

. In 1907, she received her diploma, qualifying her to teach

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. In 1914, she received her qualification to teach French in

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, but preferred to continue to teach elementary school. In March 1926, because she refused to take an oath of loyalty to Italy's

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

government, she was removed from her teaching position. In November of that year, she was sentenced to five years in prison; her sentence was reduced, and she returned to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

in November 1929. 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 ...

in 1930; to support herself, she gave private lessons in French. In 1919, she joined the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

(PSI). Merlin contributed to the socialist weekly ''Eco dei lavoratori'', and the periodical ''La Difesa delle lavoratrici''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she took part in the resistance against the fascists. She participated in the founding of the , women's defence groups. In 1944, she helped found the , and served three terms as its president. In 1946, she was elected to the

Constituent Assembly of Italy The Italian Constituent Assembly (Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Italian ...

, as a member of the PSI. She was instrumental in ensuring that the rights of women and children were protected in the new constitution. In 1948, she was elected to the Italian Senate of the Republic; she was re-elected in 1953. Merlin retired from the Socialist Party in 1961, and did not run for re-election after her term of office ended in 1963. The bill to abolish the regulation of prostitution in Italy (Law No. 75/1958) was introduced in 1948, and, after a long and difficult process, was finally passed in early 1958 and came into effect in September of that year. Merlin served on the Chioggia municipal council from 1951 to 1955. She met in Milan; the couple married in 1933, but Gallani died three years later. Merlin died in

at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin, Lina 1887 births 1979 deaths Italian resistance movement members Italian Socialist Party politicians Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy Deputies of Legislature III of Italy Senators of Legislature I of Italy Senators of Legislature II of Italy Italian feminists Italian socialist feminists 20th-century Italian women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)