Dear Emma…

You were a pretty woman walking down the street, however your destination was not the beauty parlour, rather Montecitorio, to the Chamber of Deputies. With only 28 years of age, you made your way into the Italian Parliament, starting your troubled journey towards equality.

How can I try to explain what you mean to my country, to the world and especially to myself as a woman? You aborted illegally in 1975, you went against state law to make humanitarian law prevail. A woman fighting for her rights is no rare thing nowadays; but your Italy was from another century, another culture, a whole different world. Dominated by Andreotti’s Christian Democracy, a “dead-end” country promoting values of family and apparent Giolittian liberalism, in reality Italy was just a hub for conservatism and systematic oppression. Monarchy might have been abolished on the 3rd of June 1946, but an elitist idea of politics was still prevailing. An unofficially single-party country, Italy was nothing but a puppet in the hands of the US and under the constant scrutiny of the Vatican. Women were allowed to work yet presented as housewives; while in the US Patty Smith was making the headlines, our Sanremo was crowning Iva Zanicchi as the next Italian music star, singing Hello dear, how are you?.

 As “an old men country,” Italy was not ready for your outgoing attitude, your fierce and natural charm. You swooshed away archaic prejudices and conservative stigmas. You won the battle for the legalisation of abortion in 1978, promoted a referendum against the use of civil nuclear energy in 1986, raising the first questions on environmentalism. You brought to the spotlight many issues that we now consider conventional. Infibulation, divorce and women rights in Third World countries: you fought for all of this, as the strongest individual but also the most faithful to the party’s ideals.

 The Radical Party, Marco Pannella as mentor and fellow, the excitement for an ideological revolution, all of this is inherently connected into your now fragile bones. You have lived a life worth to be lived, fighting and resisting but also learning and developing. You learned the importance of staying faithful to your ideals and never pull back in front of a challenge. After all you are still a woman in a world of men, however your goal has never been imposing your feminine presence, rather your valuable and diverse insights as a female.

 And to those who ask “do you ever miss that child you aborted?”  “Do you feel the need to be a mother?” Meaningless questions because you are THE mother. Mother to my rights to make informed choices, mother to my liberty to express my sexuality and value as a woman, mother to my engagement for an even brighter future. You are the one I aspire to elect as mother of the nation one day, because you are simply the most exquisitely human politician.

 Following the Radicals’ ideals, you never betrayed your credo and even your “break-up” with Marco never prevented you from fighting for your common goals. When he passed away of that horrible illness you were sharing, you were moved by the most humane compassion in remembering a man “underestimated by Italian politics”. You have never been afraid of comparison, be it with men or women, you recognised others’ merits and your faults. You are one of the only politicians who recognised a mistake, when you publicly apologised to Giovanni Leone on his 90th birthday. Unjustly accused of being convicted into an affair during his years as Prime Minister, Leone was forced to resign from his role. You and Pannella pressurised him more than others; nonetheless were also the only two to say “sorry”.

 You are determined and resilient, yet far from being stubborn. Indeed, even if I do not love your politics unconditionally, I do admire your strength and perseverance as my own personal goals. Indeed, I could not disagree more with your choice of allying with Berlusconi, those 1994 elections were just a disappointment to your whole fight. Looking for the easy way to dissociate with Mani Pulite financial scandal by collaborating with a populist, whose main slogan was “give Italy back to the Italians”. This wasn’t you, and you recognised it. This is what is admirable, once again politicians rarely admit they are wrong; instead, they swing from party to party like the most talented transformist, but not you. Emma you detached yourself from those populists and achieved an unprecedented 8.5% at the 1999 European elections.

 Those elections meant so much: being a step closer to a realization of real unity within the Union. You have been tirelessly working for Europe, always so dear to you: Europe as an idealised dream, a credo of unity and cooperation, which you have pursued through your various roles at the European Parliament and Commissions. The United States of Europe might not be in future short-term plans, notwithstanding your Mazzinian prophetic dream serves as an anchor of hope for us, who still believe in the institutions and refuse to surrender to the rise of nationalisms.

 For instance, now we have the Lega, France has Le Penn, Poland has Duda, populism and ignorance are raising all over Europe but this should not be new for you. You have experienced every sort of political crisis, from the kidnapping and assassination of Italian former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, to forcing the NATO for direct intervention in Kosovo humanitarian crisis. Your experience and expertise goes beyond average knowledge.

 You transcend time boundaries: inspiration to your generation, rightful heir to past feminists and example for future women. Fighting for your voice to be heard is your legacy and it will be everlasting. From the very first moment I heard you talking, I knew you were not going away. From liberal to liberal, from Italian to Italian, from woman to woman, thank you, thank you for being the pretty woman I  like to meet, for being a badass, thank you for being you!