Emanuela Setti Carraro (; 9 October 1950 – 3 September 1982) was an Italian nurse and the wife of General Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa. Less than two months after the marriage, she was the victim of the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

in the Via Carini massacre that also killed her husband and the escorting officer Domenico Russo.

Life

She was born in

Borgosesia Borgosesia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Vercelli. The largest town in Valsesia Valsesia (; Walser German: ''Tseschrutol'') i ...

, in the

province of Vercelli The province of Vercelli () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is Vercelli. , it has an area of and a total population of some 176,000. It is an area known for the cultivation of rice. Main sights ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, in 1950 to a family of the Milanese "good bourgeoisie". Emanuela followed her maternal engagement and graduated as a volunteer nurse of the

Italian Red Cross The Italian Red Cross (IRC, or ''CRI'') is the Italian national Red Cross society. The Italian Red Cross was one of the original founding members of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1919. History Early history The present-day I ...

. She paid special service at the Military Hospital in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and the operating rooms of the Institute of Surgical Pathology of the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

. She had two brothers, the physician Paolo Giuseppe and the art dealer Giovanni Maria. She became the wife of the general of

carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...

and

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of Palermo Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa (who was a widower since 1978) on 10 July 1982, after many hesitancies of dalla Chiesa due to the age gap (30 years), and only overcome thanks the determination of Emanuela. The wedding was celebrated privately in a small church in

Ivano-Fracena Ivano-Fracena () is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Castel Ivano, Trentino, in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), ...

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

. In the few months that she spent in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, she was the only person that the prefect general had at his side.

Death

On the evening of 3 September 1982, at 9:15 pm, Emanuela was driving her

Autobianchi A112 The Autobianchi A112 is a supermini car, supermini produced by the Italy, Italian automaker Autobianchi. It was developed using a shrunken version of the contemporary Fiat 128's platform. The mechanicals of the A112 subsequently underpinned the Fi ...

with her husband alongside her. Their bodies were found riddled by shots, with the general who embraced her in an attempt to protect her with his own body; according to reconstruction, she was shot in a drive-by shooting, the killer, Antonino Madonia member of the

Corleonesi Mafia clan The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella. Corleonesi affiliates wer ...

, shot her and her husband with an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

from the passenger side of a BMW 520 driven by Calogero Ganci. Although she was not the first woman victim of the Mafia at the time, her death triggered many reflections on the evolution of mafia practice, which had abandoned the "honorable" rule of not killing women. She is buried with her husband in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. The A112 is preserved in the historic museum of

Voghera image:Voghera Castle.jpg, The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera (Emilian dialect, Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin language, Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia i ...

Legacy

She was honored with the ''Medaglia d'oro al merito della Croce Rossa Italiana'' (Gold Medal of Merit from the Italian Red Cross) and ''Medaglia al merito della sanità pubblica'' (

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

Medal of Merit). Many schools and health facilities all over Italy have been named after her.Renate Siebert, ''Secrets of Life and Death: Women and the Mafia'', Verso editore, 1996,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setti Carraro, Emanuela 1950 births 1982 deaths People from Borgosesia Italian nurses Italian women nurses People murdered by the Sicilian Mafia 20th-century Italian women People murdered by the Corleonesi