Laura Conti (31 March 1921 – 25 May 1993) was an Italian

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

partisan, doctor, environmentalist, socialist politician, feminist, and novelist, considered one of the avant-garde figures of Italian environmentalism.

Biography

Born in Udine, after having lived in Trieste and Verona, she moved to Milan to attend the Faculty of Medicine. In January 1944 she joined the Youth Front for National Independence and Freedom of Eugenio Curiel. On 4 July she was arrested; after a brief period in San Vittore, she was interned in the

Bolzano Transit Camp Bolzano was a transit camp operated by Nazi Germany in Bolzano from 1944 to 3 May 1945 during World War II. It was one of the largest Nazi ''Lager'' on Italian soil, along with those of Fossoli, Borgo San Dalmazzo and Trieste. History After ...

. She luckily succeeded avoiding deportation to Germany. From this experience came the novel ''La condizione sperimentale''. Once free, she obtained her degree in medicine. In Milan she also cemented her political commitment: first in the ranks of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

, and from 1951 in the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

. She held the positions of provincial councilor from 1960 to 1970 and subsequently, until 1980, of regional councilor of Lombardy. She was secretary of the Casa della Cultura, founded and directed the Gramsci Association, and participated in the foundation of the ''Lega per l'ambiente'' (today ''

Legambiente Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the 1970s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand- ...

'') in which she was president of the Scientific Committee. In 1987 she was elected to the Chamber of Deputies.

Environmentalism

The environmentalism of Laura Conti had a component of strong humanity that was rooted in her experience in the Resistance. These roots were shared with another figure of the enlightened Milan, Ercole Ferrario. Conti liked to repeat: "I am not a scientist, but a scholar of ecological problems. While finding the study fascinating, I think it is also important to act and operate. For this reason I decided to do politics: it is not enough to study, we must also get busy." On 10 July 1976 the

Seveso disaster The Seveso disaster was an industrial accident that occurred around 12:37 on 10 July 1976, in a small chemical manufacturing plant approximately north of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy. It resulted in the highest known exposure to 2,3,7 ...

occurred. From Icmesa, a factory north of Milan, a toxic cloud came out containing many kilos of

dioxin Dioxin may refer to a number of different substances. Most notably: * 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings in which two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, which gives the molecular formula C4H4O2 ...

, a substance then almost unknown, which falls on the town. Conti was then a regional councilor and did not spare her help and comfort to the inhabitants of Seveso. With the publications ''Visto da Seveso'' and ''Una lepre con la faccia di bambina hare with the face of a child', the popularity of Laura Conti transcended national borders. On June 24, 1982, Brussels approved the directive on the risks of accidents associated with certain industrial activities that will be called the "Seveso Directive." In 1986 she was awarded the Minerva Award for her scientific and cultural path.

Selected writings

* ''Cecilia e le streghe'' - Einaudi, Torino, 1963 * ''La condizione sperimentale'' - Mondadori, Milano, 1965 * ''Sesso ed educazione'' -

Editori Riuniti Editori Riuniti is an Italian publishing house based in Rome that publishes books and magazines on the history of socialism, socialist thought, physics and mathematics theory, and the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. History ...

, Roma, 1971 * ''Le frontiere della vita'' -

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In ...

, Milano, 1972 * ''Il dominio sulla materia'' -

, Milano, 1973 * ''Che cos'è l'ecologia. Capitale, lavoro e ambiente.'' - Ed. Mazzotta, Milano, 1977 * ''Visto da Seveso'' - Feltrinelli, Milano, 1977 * ''Una lepre con la faccia di bambina'' - Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1978 * ''Il tormento e lo scudo'' - Mazzotta, Milano, 1981 * ''Imparare la salute'' - Zanichelli, Milano, 1983 * ''Questo pianeta'' - Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1983 * ''Terra a rendere'' - Ediesse, Roma, 1986 * ''Ambiente terra'' - Mondadori, Milano, 1988 * ''Discorso sulla caccia'' - Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1992

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Laura 1921 births 1993 deaths Italian anti-fascists Italian women activists Italian environmentalists Italian feminists Italian resistance movement members Italian socialist feminists Italian Socialist Party politicians Italian Communist Party politicians Female anti-fascists 20th-century Italian women writers