Baronesses and revolutionaries: the activism of foreign-born Jewish women in Liberal Italy

Abstract

This article explores the activity of foreign-born Jewish women in Liberal Italy and their role in the shaping of the secular civil society then emerging through their pioneering work in education, philanthropic social activism and politics, and through their presence in different professional milieux. Divided between baronesses and the revolutionaries, most of whom were university educated, these women led very different lives and did not belong to a single organisation. Yet they functioned as vectors for different "internationals" of feminism, pacifism, socialism. Their trajectories force us to look beyond the national and Mediterranean area, and to include Russia and America within a continuous process of exchange. By showing how gender shaped the role of these women as vectors of internationalism -in a way that did not apply to men -this article engages in gendering Jewish internationalism.Liberal Italy, Jewish foreign-born women in Italy, secular philanthropy, pacifism, socialism.Baronesses and revolutionaries: the activism of foreign-born Jewish women in Liberal Italy.Before the 18 th century, the Italian peninsula was at the heart of transnational Jewish flows of charity funds, books, rabbis and merchants from and to Palestine, the Levant, North Africa and Europe. These exchanges continued into the 19 th century, when geopolitical and technological change reshaped the emerging "Jewish international", pushing Italy to the periphery. 1 Recent work has focused on the changing dynamics of Italian Jewish networks between the 18 th and 20 th century, but exchanges beyond the Mediterranean -and involving women -have received scant attention. 2 By contrast, this article places the international connections of Jewish women centre stage, as a starting point for exploring the activity of foreign-born Jewish women in Liberal Italy and their role in the shaping of the secular civil society then emerging.These women led very different lives and did not belong to a single organisation. Yet they functioned as vectors for different "internationals", in ways that recall Georg Simmel's "intersection of social circles". 3 Collectively, they made a significant attempt to "shake up" Italian civil society through their pioneering work in education, philanthropic social activism and politics, and through their presence in different professional milieux. By showing how gender shaped the role of these women as vectors of internationalism -in a way that did not apply to men -this article engages in gendering Jewish internationalism.Not affected directly by the global dynamics linked to imperialism, or by the challenges of Jewish mass migration, Italy shifted to the periphery of the new 19 th century "Jewish international". Yet it remained at the centre of other internationals: a fulcrum for liberal exiles in the early Risorgimento; the new centre of a Catholic international; and, from the 1880s, the largest emigration nation in world history. 4 These internationals often overlapped and sometimes Italian Jews were still at the centre...