The history of the Constitution
The Constitution grew out of encounters — and conflict — between different experiences, ideas and lives. Six faces open a door onto a much larger collective history.
Meet the protagonists
From the vote to the Charter
The institutional referendum and the election of the Constituent Assembly open a new democratic era. For the first time, women take part in a national political vote.
Montecitorio welcomes 556 elected members, including 21 women. Their task is to give legal form to the newly chosen Republic.
The Constitutional Committee, chaired by Meuccio Ruini, divides its work among three subcommittees covering rights, institutions and economic and social relations.
The general debate begins. Distant political traditions confront one another article by article and search for common constitutional ground.
After 170 sittings devoted to the Constitution, the Assembly approves the final text by 453 votes to 62.
Signed on 27 December, the Constitution enters into force: not a static monument, but a commitment entrusted to every generation.
Women and men who shaped it
This is not a complete list of authors: it is an entry point. The Constitution is the work of an entire Assembly and many different political traditions.
AI illustrationFamily and equality
In the Committee of 75 she works on citizens’ rights and duties. As rapporteur on the family, she argues for the legal equality of spouses and protection for children.
In 1979 she becomes the first woman President of the Chamber of Deputies, holding the office for thirteen years.
In their wordsReport on the family — original in Italian“A work of modernisation and democratic renewal is required.”
AI illustrationSocial rights and dignity
In the Third Subcommittee she focuses on the family’s economic security, maternity and the right of every person to a dignified life.
She loses her teaching post in 1926 after refusing the Fascist oath. A later law closing state-regulated brothels will bear her name.
In their wordsProfile and work in the Assembly — original in Italian“The State has a duty to guarantee every citizen the minimum necessary for existence.”
AI illustrationWork, women and children
At twenty-five she is the Assembly’s youngest member. She speaks for women workers, the protection of mothers and children and women’s access to the judiciary.
She is also remembered for proposing mimosa as the Italian symbol of International Women’s Day.
In their wordsProfile and speeches — original in Italian“Not only the right, but the duty to work.”
AI illustrationSafeguards and democracy
A jurist and member of the Committee of 75, he brings constitutional safeguards and the living relationship between rules, freedom and participation into the debate.
His celebrated 1955 lesson to students describes the Constitution as a project that needs daily energy.
In their wordsAddress to students, 1955 — original in Italian“The Constitution is not a machine that, once set in motion, goes on by itself.”
AI illustrationThe Committee’s method
He chairs the Committee of 75 and the Committee of 18, which coordinates and harmonises the three subcommittees’ work before debate in the Chamber.
His task is not to impose a single political tradition, but to bring different contributions together in a shared text.
In their wordsReport on the draft Constitution — original in Italian“Before every other need comes respect for the human person.”
AI illustrationThe Assembly’s voice
President of the Assembly from February 1947, he guides the decisive stage of debate, presides over the final vote and signs the Constitution with De Nicola and De Gasperi.
The Assembly holds 347 sittings, 170 of them directly devoted to the constitutional debate.
In their wordsSpeech of 22 December 1947 — original in Italian“The Constitution unequivocally calls for the reforms claimed by the Italian people.”
Method and sources
Dates, roles and quotations are drawn from publications, biographies and proceedings of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Quotations are translated; square brackets mark an editorial cut.
