First Tricolore awarded to Eletta Bertani, Ione Bartoli and Loretta Giaroni

25 years after the death of Nilde Iotti, the first female President of the Chamber of Deputies in the history of the Italian Republic, the city of Reggio Emilia wished to remember her social and political commitment by awarding the First Tricolore to three people close to her: Eletta Bertani, Ione Bartoli and Loretta Giaroni.

An event that acted as a link between the past and present history of the City of Tricolore, restoring to collective memory their significant contribution to the Reggio Emilia nurseries, based on Loris Malaguzzi's educational approach. 

Mayor Massari attended the event, reiterating the ever more urgent importance of children's and women's rights: ‘A red thread, the same one that connotes our flag with liveliness and exuberance, binds four Reggio Emilia women in the same commitment: the affirmation of rights, women's emancipation, and the dignity of the person. We are talking about women who were born and grew up at a time when new aspirations for work, autonomy and freedom of choice were emerging in women and young people in particular, after an education in the values of freedom and social justice of anti-fascism transmitted by the family and social environment in which they had lived'.

Also present in the hall were former Member of Parliament Livia Turco, who provided a video contribution, Councillor for Education Policies Marwa Mahmoud, and the President of the Reggio Municipality's Preschools and Infant-toddler Centres Institution Federico Ruozzi.

In the course of the ceremony, the Historical Vessel was presented to Eletta Bertani and a valuable miniature dedicated to the Tricolore to Ione Bartoli (while Giarone was unable to be present): both welcomed the recognition by commemorating the figure of Nilde Iotti and thanking her for having left a legacy of women's emancipation and the fight for human rights.