Ida Magli (5 January 1925 – 21 February 2016) was an Italian cultural anthropologist, philosopher,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, essayist, and journalist. She applied anthropological methods in her research works on Italian and European societies. She also studied women's history by identifying the roots of male domination on women. During the last years of her life, she took critical positions against the

unification of Europe A federal Europe, also referred to as the United States of Europe (USE) or a European federation, is a hypothetical scenario of European integration leading to the formation of a sovereign state, sovereign superstate (similar to the United Sta ...

Life and career

Ida Magli was born in Rome, Italy, on 5 January 1925. She obtained a diploma in piano from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. She later graduated in philosophy from the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

with a specialization in

medical psychology Medical psychology or Medicopsychology is the application of psychological principles to the practice of medicine, sometimes using drugs for both physical and mental disorders. A medical psychologist must obtain specific qualification in psych ...

. She also wrote her experimental thesis on language radio. She became a professor of

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

at the

University of Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...

and subsequently of cultural anthropology at the Sapienza University of Rome, a position she held until her retirement in 1988. In 2015, to recognize her literary contributions, she was awarded with the Vittoriale prize. She died in Rome on 21 February 2016.

Anthropological works

Her anthropological studies were mainly focused on the sphere of the sacred and the feminine conditions in light of the works of anthropologists such as

Alfred Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber ( ; June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his PhD under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia. He was also the fi ...

and

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

Male oppression of women

Using anthropological methods, she studied the historical context of exercising the male power over women through identifying the roots of the need for male oppression on several issues related sexuality and women reproductive capabilities. Some of her publications focused on these which include ''The woman, an open problem'' (1974), ''Matriarchy and the power of women'' (1978), ''The female of man'' (1982), ''Male sexuality'' (1989) and ''On the dignity of women'' (1993).

Religious anthropology

Her studies on religious anthropology were considered to be "innovative, supported by a secular and provocative thought that explored the key areas of the sacred." Some of her research works focused on these which include ''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1982;

Premio Brancati The Premio Brancati Zafferana, more concisely known as the Premio Brancati, is a literary prize named in memory of the Italian writer Vitaliano Brancati. Background The Premio Brancati was launched in 1967. Originally a single award, the pri ...

1982), ''The Madonna'' (1987), ''Santa Teresa di Lisieux – A Romantic Girl of the Nineteenth Century'' (1994), ''Secular History of Religious Women'' (1995) and ''Ophelia's Mill: Men and Gods'' (2007).

Against the unification of Europe

She opposed a united Europe and took critical position on the unification of Europe through her publications such as ''that who didn't tell you about Maastricht'' (1997), ''The European Dictatorship'' (2010), ''After the West'' (2012) and ''Defending Italy'' (2013).

Journalism

Along with her academic and research works, she actively involved in the journalistic sector. For years, she regularly wrote articles in the newspapers ''

la Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'', ''

L'Espresso () is an Italian progressive weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is the conservative magazine . Since 2022, it has been published by BFC Media. From 7 August 2016 to 10 September 2023, it was ...

'' and ''

Il Giornale (), known from its founding in 1974 until 1983 as (), is an Italian-language daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 28,933 in May 2023. In 2006, it was considered one of Italy's main national newspapers. History an ...

''. In 1976, she cofounded the international journal of anthropological studies on women, ' and became its director. This was the first Italian journal dedicated to studies of feminist historical and socio-anthropological issues. From 1989 to 1992, she also served as a director of the Journal of Cultural Anthropology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magli, Ida 1925 births 2016 deaths Italian anthropologists Italian women anthropologists Anthropology writers 20th-century anthropologists 21st-century anthropologists Italian women academics Italian feminists 20th-century Italian women writers Italian women writers Italian feminist writers Writers from Rome