We Choose to Celebrate

by Hayley J. Egan

The 8th of March is International Women’s Day, and the theme is “Let’s Choose to Challenge”. Although every day is International Women’s Day here at Segmento, we still decided to celebrate the day with an issue filled with stories of incredible women from around the world. I had the honour of speaking to Her Excellency Ambassador Francesca Tardioli who, undeniably a pretty high achiever herself, listed some of the women who have inspired her throughout her life. Dr. Maria Montessori was one of them. What a great choice! Montessori qualified as a physician in 1896, the first Italian woman to do so since Maria Dalle Donne almost 100 years earlier. She became involved in the Women’s Rights movement and then began to study educational philosophy and anthropology. Though Maria Montessori is a household name around the world, not everyone understands the basis of her educational philosophy, which is actually quite radical. Montessori believed that in an intellectually stimulating environment where activities that support natural development are provided, children are able to educate themselves. When compared to the mainstream educational model, this was - and still is - quite a ground-breaking idea. There are now many Montessori schools around the world, and aspects of the Montessori method, (particularly the learning materials she developed) are present in classrooms everywhere. Grazia Deledda, who received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1926, is another of Ambassador Tardioli’s inspirations. Renowned as a writer of place, the Sardinian-born Deledda’s work presents a strong connection with the island. She is one of Italy’s treasures and should have a place on the bookshelf of any lover of literature. Also mentioned in our conversation was the female director general of CERN, the European research organisation that operates the world’s largest physics laboratory. In 2016, Fabiola Gianotti became the first woman to be appointed to the position. What could be a bigger

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achievement for a molecular physicist? I guess, achieving it twice. In 2019 Gianotti was selected for an unprecedented second term. The Ambassador also gave me some news I must have missed on the ABC. Well, here it is in Segmento: Molecular characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 from the first case of COVID-19 in Italy was successfully achieved by three doctors from the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital in under 48 hours. Their names are Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Francesca Colavita and Concetta Castilletti. To the names mentioned by the Ambassador, I would add two Italian women who are high achievers in a field that I hold close to my heart: Children’s literature. Have you ever heard of Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo? Their book Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls broke the record for the most crowdfunded book in history, until that record was broken by their second book, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls 2. I don’t think I know any children under 12 who do not own a copy of either of these books. They are exquisitely written and illustrated. They feature short biographies on 100 inspiring women from around the world, and illustrations by over 50 different female artists. These two books have undoubtedly made an enormous impact on children’s bookshops (and bedrooms) all over the world. So here you have a few inspiring women named by Her Excellency, and a couple of book recommendations from me (which, I’m aware, is effectively a list within a list). At any rate I invite readers of Segmento to take the entire month of March, or maybe the entire year, to be especially inspired by the women featured in this issue.

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