Anselmi, Tina (1927—)

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Anselmi, Tina (1927—)

Politician and Italy's first female cabinet minister. Born in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, in 1927.

Elected to the Italian Parliament in 1968, Tina Anselmi became Italy's first woman cabinet minister when she was appointed minister of labor, 1976–78, and then minister of health, 1978–79. Her career in politics began at the age of 16, during the Second World War, when she worked with the Cesare Battista Brigade in the Resistance movement, for which she later received the military cross for valor. Joining the Christian Democratic Party in 1944, she was head of the local textile trade union from 1945 to 1948, and then local party representative. As party spokeswoman on youth (1960–68) and national women's representative, she concentrated her efforts on industrial relations, family issues, and the status of women. She became vice president of the European Feminist Union in 1966.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts