On 12 may the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels proposes a meeting with the authors of the book “Pioniere. Le donne che hanno fatto l’Europa” (Pioneers. The women who made Europe). It recounts the lives of eleven women who, with ideas and actions, contributed to building Europe. Their biographies speak of the desire for a union under the banner of peace, rights, social justice and gender equality, capable of transcending national barriers and short-sighted visions.
The women described in the book are revolutionaries, lawyers, civil servants, trade unionists and teachers. Some are protagonists of great founding moments, others of tenacious daily work. The eleven biographies are accompanied by a few pages describing the context in which their actions generated significant changes: pacifism, women’s work, the Erasmus programme, the presence of women in European founding processes and Community institutions. A journey through the 20th century to lead us to the richness, but also the vulnerability, of today’s Europe. An idea still under construction, which can draw great nourishment from the words and actions of these extraordinary women.
The authors of the book are Pina Caporaso, primary school teacher at the Brussels II European School, who collaborates with institutions and associations dealing with gender issues and education; Giulia Mirandola, who has been operating in the publishing sector for twenty years, and teaches literature and illustration for children at the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona; Michela Nanut, illustrator and teacher, who collaborates with various publishing houses, including Loescher and Bompian. They will talk with the children of some classes of the Brussels European Schools.
