Happy Women’s Equality Day!
In the US, August 26, 1920, was the day women were granted the right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified. To celebrate this, I’d like to share with you the story of an early pioneer in women’s equality: Elisabetta Caminer Turra. Here’s a video where I outline her life story and contribution to women’s rights. She lived way back in the 18th century, born in 1751 in Venice. She followed in her father’s footsteps to forge a career in journalism, using her writing and editorial power as a platform for promoting other women writers and women’s equity.
One of the journals edited by Caminer Turra
While lots of people have heard of Mary Wollstonecraft, often credited with being a forbearer of women’s equality, Caminer Turra was actually the person to introduce Wollstonecraft’s ideas to the Italian public. In 1792, Elisabetta wrote about the book A Vindication of the Rights of Women, “Her book proves for the millionth time that women might deserve the honor being considered part of the human race.” Notice her sarcasm, which she often employed to ward off the male contemporaries who railed against her ideas.
View from Palazzo Fortuny of the Church of San Benedetto
Get your daily dose of Venice as I stand in front of the Church of San Benedetto, where Elisabetta was baptized. You can also get a fuller story of her life in my book A Beautiful Woman in Venice.
Redefining Beauty: Elisabetta Caminer Turra
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Thanks for sharing this with your readers. 🙂
I love her sarcasm. You can almost hear her saying, “DUH!”