Ada Sacchi Simonetta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ada Sacchi Simonetta
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| Born |
Ada Sacchi
19 April 1874 Mantua, Italy
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| Died | 13 January 1944 (aged 69) Niteròi, Brazil
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| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Librarian, Suffragist |
| Spouse(s) |
Quintavalle Simonetta
(m. 1899) |
Ada Sacchi Simonetta (born April 19, 1874 – died January 13, 1944) was an Italian librarian and a strong supporter of women's rights. She worked to make libraries open to everyone. As the head of the public library and museums in Mantua, she added new services. These included Sunday hours and special libraries for soldiers. She also helped start a national group for library and museum workers. This group worked to improve libraries across Italy. Ada Sacchi was also a leader in the women's rights movement. She helped women get the right to vote and have more equal civil and political rights.
Contents
Biography
Early Life
Ada Sacchi was born on April 19, 1874, in Mantua, Italy. Her parents were Achille Sacchi and Elena Casati. She was the youngest of ten children. After her mother died in 1882, a writer named Jessie White Mario became like a mother to Ada.
Ada finished high school in 1890. She then moved to Genoa and graduated from college in 1898. Ada and her two sisters were among the first 257 women to graduate from college in Italy. In 1899, Ada married Quintavalle Simonetta, who was a teacher. They had three children: Bono, Elena, and Alberto. Before 1902, Ada worked as a teacher in Modena and Mantua.
Her Work with Libraries
Leading the Mantua Public Library
On January 11, 1902, Ada Sacchi became the head of the public library and city museums in Mantua. She held this job until 1925. Ada wanted to make libraries available to more people. Before her, libraries were mostly for a small group of educated people. She wanted to open them up to everyone.
She worked hard to get more people to read books. She also wanted more books to be borrowed and new books to be bought. By the end of 1902, she had greatly increased the number of readers. She also increased the number of books read and borrowed.
Ada made important changes to the library. In 1903, she started Sunday hours, which helped working people visit. Around 1909, she added a card catalog that people could use themselves. She also suggested creating a "popular section" of the library in 1909. This idea was finally put into action in 1912. Ada often found that the city government did not support her work. She was also paid less than the male assistant director at her library.
Starting a Group for Library Workers
Libraries in Italy faced many challenges. Ada Sacchi decided to create an organization for public libraries. She wanted to discuss the future of Italian libraries. She also wanted to get fair pay for library workers from city governments.
In June 1911, Ada brought together the first national meeting of public libraries. They formed the National Association for Library and Town and Provincial Museum Officials. Ada Sacchi became its first president. One of the first things the group did was tell local governments about the problems libraries faced. They pointed out the lack of staff. They also said that libraries were very important for education. The group also asked for more money to support libraries.
In December 1915, the association stopped its activities because of World War I. However, in 1917, they managed to get a special rule. Libraries did not have to pay postal fees to send books to each other. During World War I, Ada Sacchi also set up small libraries for wounded soldiers. These were in the Mantua hospital. In 1917, 6,000 books were given out. The library was also open in the evenings for soldiers recovering in Mantua. In 1920, Ada resigned as president of the association. But she continued to be an active member.
National Library Efforts
In 1923, Ada Sacchi wrote an article called "The State of Public Libraries in Italy." In it, she talked about what Italian libraries needed. She suggested reorganizing the whole library system. She also wanted libraries in big cities to manage themselves. She thought there should be schools to teach people how to be librarians. And she wanted schools and libraries to work together more.
In 1925, Ada was too sick to attend the association's annual meeting. But the president read her speech. It was about how the government should work with public libraries and museums. She said that one government body should be in charge of these cultural places.
In 1928, she gave another speech. She again asked for a library in every town. At this meeting, the association Ada started decided to join with state libraries. They formed a new, bigger association. In 1929, Ada attended the "First World Congress of Libraries and Bibliography." This is where the new Italian Library Association was officially launched in 1930. Ada wrote a paper for the congress. It was about making university research papers available to everyone. She believed that these papers should not just stay hidden in university archives. She wanted them to be shared to help science grow.
Fighting for Women's Rights
Ada Sacchi and her sister Beatrice were both involved in the women's rights movement. In 1909, Ada started the Mantuan chapter of the Association for the Woman. This group worked for women's right to vote, for divorce, and for women to have careers. She also started evening schools for women. These included a sewing school and a school for nurses. She created other programs for women and children too.
Thanks to Ada's work, Mantua became an important place for women's rights in its region. In 1917, Ada's group in Mantua disagreed with another women's rights group in Rome. Ada's group opposed giving women the right to vote before the war. They thought that Italian women's neutrality might lead the country into war.
In 1923, Ada was one of twelve Italian representatives. They attended the Ninth Congress of the International Women Suffrage Alliance in Rome. In 1928, she became president of the Italian Federation for Women's Suffrage and Civil and Political Rights (FISEDD). This was the Italian part of the International Women Suffrage Alliance.
Later Years
During a time of political change in Italy, Ada Sacchi did not join the ruling political party. Because of this, she had to leave her job at the library. In 1935, she was also removed from her position as president of FISEDD. In 1939, Ada and her family moved to Niteròi, Brazil. She died there in 1944.
Works
- Saggio intorno al pessimismo dei poeti greci, Mantova 1902
- Relazioni fra lo Stato e le biblioteche e musei comunali e provinciali in ordine al loro funzionamento, in Bollettino del Museo civico di Padova, n.s., II (1926), 1-4, pp. 115–121
- L'Associazione per la donna di Mantova. Cenno riassuntivo (anni 1909–1926), Bologna 1927
- Catalogazione e possibilità di consultazione delle tesi universitarie, Roma 1930
- Federazione italiana per il suffragio e i diritti civili e politici delle donne. Relazione morale e finanziaria della Presidenza centrale sul biennio 1930-31, Mantova 1932
- Federazione italiana per i diritti della donna. Relazione morale e finanziaria sul biennio 1932-33, Mantova s.d.
