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20 Most Famous Italian Women in History

Italy has a long list of women who have achieved great success and made their mark in history. This ranges from entertainers to scientists to politicians and even queens. Italian women have been at the frontline in impacting change in the books of history. This impact has registered an enduring legacy even for upcoming generations. 

While all the women we have featured in this article come from different walks of life, one thing is constant: their impact, not only in Italy but worldwide. Let’s delve into the list of 20 of the most famous Italian women in history.

1. Grazia Deledda

Grazia Deledda was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.  She was the first Italian woman to receive the prize for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture life on her native island of  Sardinia. She was also credited with depth and sympathy depicted in her writing with human problems in general.

Deledda’s first novel, Fiori di Sardegna (Flowers of Sardinia) was published in 1892. Her 1896 book Paesaggi Sardi, published by Speirani, is both informed by fiction and poetry. Grazia went ahead to achieve a groundbreaking role in Italian and World literature.

2. Cleopatra 

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Cleopatra was a skilled diplomat and politician who played a key role in the Roman civil wars. Cleopatra is often depicted as a beautiful and alluring woman, but she was also a shrewd and ruthless ruler.  Read the top 10 facts about Cleopatra. 

After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic period state in the Mediterranean and of the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander from 336 to 323 BC.

3. Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. As of 2023, is one of the last surviving major stars from the era. 

Loren is also the only remaining living person to appear on AFI’s list of the 50 greatest stars of American film history, positioned 21st.

4. Laura Boldrini 

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Laura Boldrini is an Italian politician and former United Nations official, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Previously she served as Spokesperson to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for Southern Europe.

Boldrini was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the 2013 parliamentary election as an independent candidate in the Left Ecology Freedom party list, who together with their coalition allies in the Democratic Party and in Italy Common Good held the majority of seats in the lower house. She represents the second electoral district of Sicily.

5. Giovanna Botteri

Giovanna Botteri is an Italian journalist and TV correspondent specializing in foreign politics. She holds a PhD in the history of cinema from the Sorbonne. 

From 1991 to 1996, she covered the Balkan conflict in Croatia and Bosnia. After a spell as a co-conductor with Michele Santoro of the TV programme Samarcanda on RAI 3, she worked for RAI 3 news programme TG3 as a correspondent from Algeria, South Africa, Iran, Albania and Kosovo. Since 2018 she is a political commentator and correspondent from New York.

6. Simonetta Vespucci 

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Simonetta Vespucci nicknamed la bella Simonetta, was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa, the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence and the cousin-in-law of Amerigo Vespucci. 

Simonetta was known as the greatest beauty of her age in Italy and was allegedly the model for many paintings by Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo, and other Florentine painters.

7. Chiara Ferragni

Chiara Ferragni is an Italian blogger, businesswoman, fashion designer and model who has collaborated with fashion and beauty brands through her blog The Blonde Salad. 

Ferragni has about 15 million followers on Instagram. Because of her broad following, she was able to earn about $12,000 for a sponsored post on Instagram. She also used her Social Media followership to campaign against the far-right party in Italy. In 2022, she announced the launch of her own line of fragrances. Read more about 20 Famous Fashion Influencers You Should Follow. 

8. Artemisia Gentileschi

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Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. 

In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.

9. Rita Levi-Montalcini

Rita Levi-Montalcini was an Italian neurobiologist. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor. 

From 2001 until her death, Rita also served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life. This honour was given due to her significant scientific contributions. Rita became the first Nobel laureate to reach the age of 100 and had an event feted in her honour with a party at Rome’s City Hall.

10. Alessandra Mussolini 

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Alessandra Mussolini is an Italian politician.  She currently serves as a Member of the European Parliament for Forza Italia. In 2004, she became the first woman to lead a political party in Italy.

Alessandra was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and the Italian Senate from 2013 to 2014, she was elected under The People of Freedom which is now part of Forza Italia. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014.

11. Isabella Andreini

Isabella was an Italian actress and writer. Andreini was a member of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi, a touring theatre company that performed in Italy and France. The role of Isabella of the commedia dell’arte was named after her. 

Besides performing on stage, Isabella Andreini was a recognised intellectual who dedicated much of her time to literature. She wrote with a masculine voice in her creations that showed her virtue. She is considered one of the more successful female playwrights of her time, which is attributed to her time on stage as an actress.

12. Maria Montessori 

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Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education and her writing on scientific methods. At an early age, Montessori enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer. 

Maria later had a change of heart and began medical school at the Sapienza University of Rome, becoming one of the first women to attend medical school in Italy, she graduated with honours in 1896. Her educational method is in use today in many public and private schools globally. Read the Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Maria Montessori. 

13. Elisa Bonaparte 

Elisa Bonaparte became Napoleon’s only sister to possess political power. Their relations were sometimes strained due to her sharp and harsh tongue. Highly interested in the arts, particularly the theatre, she encouraged them in the territories over which she ruled.

14. Laura Pausini

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Laura Pausini is an Italian singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists’ section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with her debut single La solitudine, which became an Italian standard and an international hit. 

Throughout her career, she has won numerous music awards in Italy and internationally. In 2006, she became the first Italian female artist to win a Grammy Award.  She has been honoured as a Commander Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and as a World Ambassador of Emilia Romagna.

15. Lina Wertmüller 

Lina Wertmüller was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Wertmüller was the first female director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. 

She won many awards, including an Academy Honorary Award and a David di Donatello Career Achievement Award, and was nominated for many others, including a Golden Globe Award, two Academy Awards, and two Palme d’Or awards.

16. Anita Garibaldi

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Anita Garibaldi was the wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Their partnership epitomized the spirit of the 19th century’s Age of Romanticism and revolutionary liberalism.

Anita accompanied Garibaldi and his red-shirted legionnaires back to Italy to join in the revolutions of 1848, where he fought against the forces of the Austrian Empire. In February 1849, Garibaldi joined in the defence of the newly proclaimed Roman Republic against Neapolitan and French intervention aimed at the restoration of the Papal States.

17. Alda Merini

Alda Merini was an Italian writer and poet. Her work earned the attention and admiration of other Italian writers, such as Giorgio Manganelli, Salvatore Quasimodo, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. 

Merini’s writing style has been described as intense, passionate and mystic, and it is influenced by Rainer Maria Rilke. 

18. Gina Lollobrigida

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Gina Lollobrigida was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, artist and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. 

Gina was among the last surviving high-profile international actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Lollobrigida continued as an active supporter of Italian and Italian-American causes, particularly the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF).

19. Marzia Bisognin

Marzia Bisognin is an Italian Internet personality and businesswoman. She became famous for her videos on YouTube. Kjellberg’s channel’s success allowed her to start designing her own clothing.

Since March 2015, Kjellberg has launched several lines of fashion and design merchandise including nail polish shade, home décor products, and most notably clothing. She has also ventured into writing, fashion design, and business.  Read more incredible Facts about Marzia Bisognin. 

20. Lidia Bastianich

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Lidia Bastianich is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. 

Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking shows since 1998.

In Conclusion, these Italian women have risen to the task and made an indelible mark in the respective industries that they find themselves in, and not only in their home country but in the world. They also have left big shoes which the generation behind them have an uphill task to fill.