Ursula Hirschmann
Ursula Hirschmann (1913–1991) was a German-Italian anti-fascist activist and intellectual, deeply involved in the European federalist movement. Born into a Jewish family in Berlin, she became politically active in her youth, joining the socialist opposition against the Nazi regime. Forced into exile, she moved to France and later Italy, where she played a crucial role in anti-fascist resistance. Hirschmann, with Ada Rossi, assisted the interned Altiero Spinelli, Ernesto Rossi and Hirschmann's then-husband Eugenio Colorni with smuggling the Manifesto of Ventotene from the island to the Italian mainland. She was therefore instrumental in disseminating its vision of a united, democratic Europe during the Second World War. In 1943, she was among the founders of the European Federalist Movement. Despite operating largely behind the scenes, her intellectual contributions and organisational efforts significantly shaped European thought.
Ursula Hirschmann remained politically engaged in the post-war period. In 1970 she joined her second husband Altiero Spinelli in Brussels following his nomination by the Italian government to serve as European Commissioner for Industry and Technology. Her growing commitment to the cause of feminism led her to establish Femmes pour l’Europe in Brussels in 1975. This association brought together women in Europe engaged in the political and cultural spheres. Through its lobbying work, Femmes pour l’Europe sought to promote access to education and defend equal pay. The association made an appeal to all women in Europe to join the fight for European unification. At the first colloquium of the association, Ursula Hirschmann and feminist activist Jacqueline de Groote presented an essay that argued women’s political activism needed to transcend the national level and engage in European politics. Women, they argued, were more aware of the central issues to be addressed because of their quotidian experience with struggle and difficulty. They exhorted their peers to bring that knowledge to the European level, where the most important decisions would be taken. Hirschmann’s contribution has been honoured at the European University Institute through the annual Ursula Hirschmann Lecture, established in 2001 by Professor Luisa Passerini.
La participation des femmes à la construction européenne, par Jacqueline de Groote et Ursula Hirschmann Spinelli. HAEU, JPG-24.
Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso
Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso (1927 – 2017) was an Italian politician and journalist who showed strong commitment to the work of trade unions throughout her extensive career. Even before graduating law school in her home city of Perugia, she became a member of the newly established CISL (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori), a national trade union centre in Italy linked with the Christian Democrat political party. From 1965 until 1978, she headed CISL’s office of international relations. Then, in 1978 she became the first woman to be elected as president of the European Economic and Social Committee of the European Economic Community. Her commitment to European governance continued, and she ran to become a Member of European Parliament in 1979 during its first elections through direct universal suffrage. She won her seat and served as MEP for the Italian Communist Party until 1984. When she was in her seventies, Baduel Glorioso approached the Historical Archives of the European Union about depositing her personal archives. In 2003, she signed a deposit agreement with the Historical Archives, thus ensuring that the memory of her work would be conserved, valorised and consulted by future generations.
The magazine Euro First published a feature on Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso following her election as the President of the European Economic and Social Committee. With the strong support of the Committee members, she had won 107 out of the 114 votes and distinguished herself as the first woman to head one of the European institutions. While Baduel Glorioso demurred from identifying herself as a feminist in that article, perhaps for what she said were generational reasons, at her inaugural speech she stressed that “avoiding rhetoric, we must all acknowledge and be conscious of women's role in society, in the production process and as political and trade union representatives” (HAEU, FBG-84). Her unflagging dedication to protecting the rights of Europe’s workers and the unemployed benefited men and women alike.
“The Chic Trade Unionist Scores A Double First,” Interview with John Lambert, Euro First. HAEU, FBG-33.
Fausta Deshormes La Valle
Fausta Deshormes La Valle (1927–2013) was an Italian journalist and a pivotal figure in promoting European integration and women's rights. She pursued a law degree in her birth city of Naples and began her journalism career with publications such as L'Universitario and Giovane Europa. In 1958, she moved to Brussels, where her husband Philippe Deshormes had been appointed Secretary of the European Youth Campaign. In 1961, Deshormes La Valle joined the European Commission's Joint Information Service where she focused on university and adult education. Recognising the need for accessible information on European integration, she spearheaded the creation of European Documentation Centres in universities across Europe, bringing European affairs closer to academia.
In 1976, Fausta Deshormes La Valle established and led the Women's Information Service within the Directorate-General for Information. Here, she launched the periodical Femmes d’Europe (Women of Europe), freely distributed to inform and mobilise women across member states. The HAEU holds almost all issues of the publication. Deshormes La Valle's efforts culminated in the founding of the European Women's Lobby in 1990, a testament to her enduring commitment to gender equality and European unity. She gave two interviews about her work, one in 2004 and one in 2011, both in the framework of oral history projects on the memories of the European Commission. Her private archives are preserved at the Historical Archives of the European Union.