Péle, a nickname for Pelegrina Pastorino, (1902 – 1988) was a reputable Argentine women's fashion reporter, fashion editor, critics translator, feminist educator, and a member of the Florida group; she actively participated in the movement of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

during the 1930s and 1940s period.

Career

Pele was born at Palazzo Pastorino, one of the most beautiful examples of the work of the famous Italian arArchitect Gino Coppede (1866–1927) a foremost exponent of 'Art Nouveau'; located on Via Bartolomeo Bosco, 57, Genova GE, Italy, the Palazzo was built for the wealthy Pastorino family and is situated in Portoria, central

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Later on in her childhood, she arrived in Argentina with her immigrant family at an early age. Eventually, once she reached her maturity age, her family sent her back to Italy to finishing school. In Italy, she was educated in fashion, fine arts and letters at "Academia di Belle Arti di Brera" of Milan. Initially, Pele started her career as a fashion model and public relations person for the British company

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

, representing fashion commercials in portraits promoting women equality and feminist fashion trends, bringing women's trousers to Argentina and taking part in commercials for the cigarette company Primeros "fags for ladies", owned by Greek-Argentine businessman

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

Journalistic work

a magazine published since 1931 until 2002. Her work with María Rosa Oliver as a multilingual translatorMultilingual Papers, Princeton University. https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/C0829 provided editorial content supporting recognition of women in the workplace and equality in society at large. She participated in international feminist engagements from her position as private assistant to famous feminist and Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo.

Humanitarian work

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Pele took part in humanitarian work in the rescue of women and children exiting Europe by finding them homes in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, as a participant of the International

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

and

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

refugees training assistant program. She was the aunt of famous Argentine actress Malvina Pastorino, and fashion-career mentor to Catherine, Countess Grixoni while working for

Personal life and death

Pele married the Argentine essayist Nicolás Barrios-Lynch in the

City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, and they took seasonal residency in La Cumbrecita, a small hamlet in

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...

. She died in Buenos Aires in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastorino, Pelegrina 1902 births 1988 deaths Argentine women writers Argentine feminists Italian emigrants to Argentina