Lina Merlin
Lina Merlin | |
---|---|
Verona | |
Member of the Senate of the Republic | |
In office 8 May 1948 – 11 June 1958 | |
Constituency | Veneto |
Member of the Constituent Assembly | |
In office 25 June 1946 – 31 January 1948 | |
Constituency | Italy at-large |
Personal details | |
Born | Angelina Merlin 15 October 1887 Pozzonovo, Kingdom of Italy |
Died | 16 August 1979 Padua, Italy | (aged 91)
Political party | Italian Socialist Party |
Spouse |
Dante Gallani
(m. 1933; died 1936) |
Angelina "Lina" Merlin (15 October 1887 – 16 August 1979) was an Italian politician, perhaps best known for authoring and promoting the so-called "Merlin law" which abolished state-regulated prostitution in Italy. She was also an activist and educator, and took part in the Italian resistance movement.[1][2]
The daughter of Giustina Poli, a teacher, and Fruttuoso Merlin, secretary for the municipality, she was born in
In 1919, she joined the
In 1946, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Italy, as a member of the PSI. She was instrumental in ensuring that the rights of women and children were protected in the new constitution. In 1948, she was elected to the Italian Senate of the Republic; she was re-elected in 1953. Merlin retired from the Socialist Party in 1961, and did not run for re-election after her term of office ended in 1963.[1]
The bill to abolish the regulation of prostitution in Italy (Law No. 75/1958) was introduced in 1948, and, after a long and difficult process, was finally passed in early 1958 and came into effect in September of that year.[1][2]
Merlin served on the Chioggia municipal council from 1951 to 1955.[1]
She met Dante Gallani in Milan; the couple married in 1933, but Gallani died three years later.[1]
Merlin died in Padua at the age of 91.[1]
Electoral history
Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | Constituent Assembly | Verona–Padua–Vicenza–Rovigo
|
PSIUP | 5,914 | Not elected | |
Italy at-large | –[a] | Elected | ||||
1948 | Senate of the Republic | Veneto – Adria | FDP | 40,323 | Elected | |
1953 | Senate of the Republic | Veneto – Rovigo | PSI | 20,209 | Elected | |
1958 | Chamber of Deputies | Verona–Padua–Vicenza–Rovigo
|
PSI | 7,786 | Elected |
- ^ Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.