He February 25, 1949 He died in Diano Marina, a town in the Liguria region of Italy, Lidia Poët, the woman who in 1883 would become the first lawyer in the country and that would open their way to upcoming generations in the law and the public official.
A life of the fight to meet its professional and feminist claim objectives that has also served to Inspire a Netflix fiction series two seasons called Poët Lidia Law.
Lidia Poët: Italy’s first lawyer in 1883
Lidia Poët was born in Perrero, a municipality near Turin, on August 26, 1855 In the bosom of a well -off family which gave him a complete education that led him to obtain the title of Secondary School Teacher, with a certificate for the teaching of English, German and French.
However, his true vocation was law and Follow the footsteps of his brother Giovanni Enricowith which he would get to work in his office when he was disabled. With this objective, he enrolled in the Law Faculty of the University of Turin and in which he graduated in 1881 with a thesis on the condition of women in society and the right to female vote.
Thus, in 1883 and after two years of practices in the office of lawyer Cesare Bertea, he requested to enter the order of lawyers and prosecutors of Turin, being accepted in August of that same year thanks to the favor of the presidents and majority of councilors of this institution.
Disabled by colleagues protests
However, his acceptance brought the opposition of other lawyers, some of whom even renounced his position as a protest. This came to the Attorney General, who appealed before the Turin Court of Appeal and three months later, in November, was disabled by considering that women could not have a public office.
The Lidia Poët disqualification as a lawyer generated an intense public debatebut the decision was not changed and she joined the office of her brother, with whom she collaborated, although without being able to exercise her full position. At the same time, he joined the fight for the defense of the female vote and the rights of women, being part of the National Council of Italian Women (CNDI) since its foundation in 1903.
Three decades of waiting to be official again
After being disabled just a few months after being accepted in 1883, Lidia Poët He had to wait until 1919 to enter again In the order of lawyers and prosecutors of Turin with 65 years, more than three decades later, thanks to the Sacchi Law that allowed access to women to exercise public office, with the exception of the Judiciary, the policy and military charges, for which which They would have to wait longer.
In 1922, he became the president of the Provogo Committee of Women of Turin, with whom he continued his struggle for suffrage, who accompanied him throughout his life, Until his death at 94 in 1949. In honor of his career and being a pioneer in law, the Turin Bar Association Council dedicated a commemorative plaque in the Jardines of the Palace of Justice in 2021.
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