Women
"Noi vogliamo glorificare la guerra - sola igiene del mondo - il militarismo, il patriottismo, il gesto distruttore dei liberatori, le belle idee per cui si muore e il disprezzo della donna."
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, manifesto del futurismo (Le Figaro, 20. February 1909)
"The feminist movement as at present instituted is inadequate."
Mina Loy, Feminist Manifesto (1914)
A characteristic feature of the “L’Italia Futurista” circle is that – unlike the current image of a misogynous futurism which was mainly spread by its male protagonists – many women played a central role within this periodical. The remarkably large number of women participating attracted attention and so also a debate was started in “L’Italia Futurista”, which lead to the creation of the new category “Donne-Amore-Bellezza”. This debate among the female and male members of the futurism should also be considered as a response to Marinetti’s “Come si seducono le donne” (1917). The book soon became the subject of a controversial dispute and lead, among others, to Mari Annetta’s (alias Comtesse du Aubrun) parody “Come si seducono gli uomini”.
The column WOMEN of the PRO FIRENZE FUTURISTA thematic portal offers selected material on important female figures of the “L’Italia Futurista” circle, adding bibliographic or biographic information. The focus, however, is less on presenting famous leading figures, such as Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Ballas' student and wife of Marinetti, but it rather turns attention to the female protagonists of Florentine futurism. Maria Ginanni, for instance, plays a decisive role not only as editor of the “Edizioni de l’Italia Futurista” (“collezione diretta da M. Ginanni”); in the group of Florentine female futurists she further acts as a draw for numerous female followers, such as Fulvia Giuliani, Irma Valeria, Eva Kuhn Amendola alias Magamal, Emma Marpillero, Enif Robert, and Rosa Rosà; Mina della Pergola, Fanny Dini, Enrica Piubellini, and Marj Carbonaro. These artists contributed numerous articles, poems, reviews, and parole in libertà to “L’Italia Futurista”. The thematic portal is dedicated to these women, as well as to the Anglo-American poet and painter Mina Loy. Mina Loy, who is rather unknown in Italy, frequented the group of young futurists of “Lacerba”, another futurist periodical. In America, she was – after her return from Florence – celebrated as a kind of ambassador of Futurism.
A gradual extension of the portal WOMEN and the addition of other figures is planned.
Cited Literature:
Papini, Maria Carla (ed.): L’Italia futurista (1916-1918), Rome 1977.
Salaris, Claudia: Le futuriste. Donne e letteratura d'avanguardia in Italia (1909/1944), Milan 1982.
