by Cyril Dworsky [Kinderbüro Universität Wien] & Federica Sgorbissa [Sissa Medialab]
During our recent workshops in Trieste, titled “Persecution and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation under Nazi-Fascism in Italy and Austria”, journalist and educator Simone Petralia shared with us the remarkable yet tragic life journey of Enrica Calabresi, a brilliant zoologist whose contributions to science were cut short by the brutal intersection of antisemitism and gender discrimination.
A Life Marked by Double Discrimination
Enrica Calabresi faced barriers that many of her contemporaries could scarcely imagine. As both a Jewish woman and a scientist in early 20th-century Italy, she navigated a world that systematically excluded her on multiple fronts. Her story is not just one of scientific achievement, but of perseverance against institutionalized prejudice.
When Italy’s racial laws were enacted, Calabresi’s promising career and life came to a devastating end. Yet her legacy transcends the tragedy of her premature death. She represents something profoundly important: the possibility of maintaining moral integrity and intellectual resistance even in times of widespread exclusion and violence.
An Intersectional Lens on History
Petralia’s absorbing presentation approached Calabresi’s life through the framework of intersectional feminism, recognizing how different forms of discrimination overlapped and compounded in her experience. This perspective allows us to understand not just what happened to Calabresi, but how systems of oppression work together to marginalize individuals who exist at multiple intersections of identity.
Her story resonates today as we continue to grapple with issues of inclusion, representation, and justice in science and society at large.
Why is the story of Enrica Calabresi significant?
Federica Sgorbissa from Sissa Medialab asked Simone Petralia a few questions why he selected the personal history Enrica Calabresi for the CU REMEMBER Blog:
The story of Enrica Calabresi is, unfortunately, a familiar example of how a high-level woman scientist can be “forgotten” for many reasons — among which her being a woman was not secondary. Why is it important that her story has been rediscovered?
“For over 50 years, Enrica Calabresi was only a name associated with a few species of insects and reptiles. It seems that for decades no one wondered about the origin of that name, who the person behind those discoveries was. Her memory was literally swept away. That was until 2001. That year her name resurfaced from the fog of the past, thanks to the work of two Italian scientists, not by chance two women: Marta Poggesi, an entomologist, and Alessandra Sforzi, a herpetologist.
Recovering her story not only restores individual justice, but also gives us the opportunity to talk about the patriarchal structures that marginalized her voice and that of many other women. Remembering Calabresi means adding new pieces to our knowledge, broadening our cultural horizons, and offering younger generations new female role models.”
Reading her story, it almost seems that being a woman amplified — and perhaps even accelerated — the discrimination she faced as a Jewish academic. What do you think?
“Yes, I totally agree. Calabresi had to face two vectors of exclusion simultaneously: gender and race. These two conditions add up: the precarious position of women within academia made them more vulnerable, while Jewish identity accelerated the expulsion and marginalization of many of them. Being a woman was not a mere circumstance, but made the discrimination more pervasive and the exclusion faster.”
Calabresi was discriminated against as a woman and as a Jew, but she also had certain privileges — for example, the chance to attend university and graduate, which was rare for women of her time — thanks to her upper-middle-class background. What does her story teach us?
“Intersectionality, a concept developed in the late 20th century by American jurist and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, helps us interpret Calabresi’s story today, as well as those of many other people. Intersectionality is a lens that shows how discrimination — and privilege — result from a combination of factors.
Calabresi was not only a woman, and not only Jewish. She also had the good fortune of being born into a cultivated, open-minded upper-middle-class family. Had she grown up in a working-class environment, she would not even have accessed the first level of schooling.
This helps us understand how privileges and limitations often coexist within the same person. The interplay of gender, religion, class, profession, and many other factors created a unique identity. The only certain thing is that even today, being male, white, able-bodied, wealthy, and heterosexual represents the highest possible level of privilege.”
About the Speaker
Simone Petralia brings both journalistic rigor and academic expertise to his work on women in science. As a member of the scientific committee of CIRSDe (the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Women’s and Gender Studies) at the University of Turin, he has dedicated himself to uncovering and sharing the stories of women scientists whose contributions have been overlooked or forgotten.
In 2024, Petralia published Le ribelli: otto scienziate che hanno cambiato il mondo (The Rebels: Eight Women Scientists Who Changed the World), a collection that includes Calabresi’s story alongside seven other pioneering women in science. Participants in this module were fortunate to receive complimentary copies of this important work, ensuring that these stories of rebellion, resilience, and scientific achievement continue to inspire new generations.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. |