Women's Bookshop, Firenze

The Libreria delle Donne di Firenze (Women's Bookshop of Florence) was a feminist bookshop and cultural centre active in Florence, Italy, from 1979 to 2018. Founded by a group of women and organised as a cooperative (Cooperativa delle donne), it opened in the historic centre of Florence at Via Fiesolana 2B. The cooperative initially counted around forty members of different ages, cultural backgrounds and political practices, who committed to at least one voluntary weekly shift to keep the shop open. The bookshop specialised in narrative and non-fiction by women authors from all periods and countries, with particular attention to feminist theory and practice. It was a hub of Italian and international feminist culture, contributing to the founding of the national Rete Lilith and to the launch of the Artemisia anti-violence centre in Florence. Over four decades it built relationships with feminist movement women, artists, local and national associations and collectives, women's bookshops, magazines and publishing houses, as well as public bodies such as the Tuscany Region, equal opportunities commissions, trade unions (FLM), the Universities of Florence and Siena, and the San Salvi psychiatric hospital. It also maintained international ties, including with the International Information Centre and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIAV) and Duoda at the University of Barcelona. The bookshop hosted presentations, writing workshops, exhibitions and conferences, ran a free Saturday legal service, a self-help group for women who had suffered intra-family sexual abuse, Linea Lesbica Fiorentina and l'Amandorla. It was an incubator for other women's groups. From 1984 it opened the FILI documentation centre, offering public consultation and lending, and managed training and documentation projects at European (NOW), regional and local levels. It also carried out its own publishing activity, issuing literary texts, catalogues, bibliographies and reading lists. The historic shop closed in June 2018; its cultural activities continue through the Associazione Fiesolana 2B, which also runs a feminist library open to the public. The archival fonds of the bookshop are preserved at the Associazione Fiesolana 2B, the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Florence (consultable online), the Chamber of Commerce and the Oblate municipal library. In 2020, as part of Archivissima, a video documenting the bookshop's history through images from the LDF archival fonds was presented, and in 2021 the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Florence published a selection of posters from the fonds 'Manifesti e carte 1979-2019'.

The Libreria delle Donne di Firenze was founded in 1979 by a group of women, inspired by women's bookshops that had emerged in Italy in those years. It opened in the historic centre of Florence at Via Fiesolana 2B. For commercial management, the cooperative form was chosen: the Cooperativa delle donne initially had about forty members, diverse in age, cultural formation and political practice. The group maintained as a priority commitment at least one voluntary weekly shift for opening the shop. Over 40 years of presence, it developed relationships in the city and beyond with women of the feminist movement and others, with artists, local and national associations and collectives, with women's bookshops, magazines and publishing houses, but also with public bodies such as the Tuscany Region and equal opportunities commissions, with bodies of various municipalities including Florence, Livorno and Prato, with trade unions such as the FLM, with the University of Florence and Siena, and with the San Salvi psychiatric hospital. It also had relations with international groups, such as the International Information Centre and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIAV) and Duoda at the University of Barcelona. The bookshop specialised in the dissemination of narrative and non-fiction works by women authors of all times and countries, with particular attention to texts of feminist theory and practice. It promoted presentations of texts and research, cycles of meetings on writing, exhibitions and conferences in collaboration with women and women's groups, and with public and private bodies. Its activities included collecting and disseminating documentary materials produced by various women's publishing houses, magazines and women's bookshops, including the women's bookshop of Rome and the Women's Bookshop of Milan. It hosted the free Saturday morning legal service and the self-help group of women who had suffered intra-family sexual abuse, Linea Lesbica Fiorentina, and l'Amandorla. It was an incubator of other women's groups. It had its own publishing activity, publishing literary texts and original research, such as those done in collaboration with the Centro Documentazione Donna on the female erotic imaginary or on travel. It promoted various exhibitions of women artists at its premises and organised the collective 'Il Design delle donne' at the Museum of Contemporary Furnishings in Ravenna. It created exhibitions on photographic representation such as 'Erotica', with 21 women photographers; 'Il traguardo dell'amore', wedding photos from the 1900s collected in various archives; 'Oltre la posa', photographs from the Alinari Archive. Over time it collected a substantial documentary heritage relating to the Florentine, Italian and international feminist movement from the 1970s onwards. From 1984 it opened the FILI documentation centre with a consultation and lending service open to the public. The centre managed training projects and documentation activities at European (NOW), regional and local levels. FILI carried out training in computing and telematics and innovation in documentary and library languages from a gender perspective, also collaborating in the development of the thesaurus 'Linguaggiodonna'. The listening point on women's music led to a collection of unpublished works by contemporary women musicians. It participated in the committee for the inviolability of the female body, promoted in 1988 by councillor Catia Franci with responsibility for the Women's Project of the Municipality of Florence. It participated in the 'Tempi' group of the Council of Women of the Municipality of Florence. From 1997 to 2008, with the Time and Spaces office and the civic network of the Municipality of Prato, it promoted and managed the editorial staff of the website 'Tempi e Spazi' and curated, at the Lazzerini Library in Prato, the specialised documentary fonds TESP. The bookshop carried out publishing activity, publishing texts, catalogues, bibliographies and reading lists along several lines. Examples include: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 'Sonetti dal portoghese', edited by Liana Borghi with translation by Rina Sara Virgillito, Florence, Libreria delle donne, 1986; Costanza Caglià, 'L'amore con Erode', edited by Isolina Baldi, Florence, La libreria delle donne, 1983 (the novel was adapted for theatre and reissued in 2001 by CRT of Pistoia); Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 'La carta gialla', Florence, Libreria delle donne, 2008. It also published conference proceedings and training courses, such as 'I labirinti dell'eros: incontro di donne sull'immaginario erotico femminile' (1985). The historic shop closed in June 2018. After the dissolution of the cooperative, the archival fonds of the Libreria delle donne is conserved at the Associazione Fiesolana 2B, at the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Florence (where it is consultable online), at the Chamber of Commerce and at the Oblate municipal library. In the context of Archivissima, the national archives event held online in June 2020, a video was presented documenting the history of the women's bookshop through images from the LDF archival fonds. The Historical Archive of the Municipality of Florence published in 2021 a selection of posters consultable in the fonds 'Manifesti e carte 1979-2019' from the Libreria delle donne di Firenze fonds.

• 2021

  Historical Archive of the Municipality of Florence published a selection of posters from the fonds.

• 2020

  Video documenting the bookshop's history presented at Archivissima.

• 2018

  Historic shop closed in June; cooperative dissolved.

• 2008

  Published Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'La carta gialla'.

• 1997

  Began managing the website 'Tempi e Spazi' with the Municipality of Prato until 2008.

• 1988

  Participated in the committee for the inviolability of the female body promoted by Catia Franci.

• 1986

  Published Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'Sonetti dal portoghese'.

• 1984

  Opened the FILI documentation centre with public consultation and lending.

• 1983

  Published 'L'amore con Erode' by Costanza Caglià.

• 1979

  Founded by a group of women and opened at Via Fiesolana 2B, Florence, as a cooperative.

A feminist bookshop and cultural centre dedicated to women's writing and feminist thought, embedded in local and international women's movements.

• 1986

  Sonetti dal portoghese

• 1983

  L'amore con Erode

• 2008

  La carta gialla

• 1985

  I labirinti dell'eros

1. 1Libreria delle Donnelibreriadelledonnefirenze.blogspot.com
2. 2Women's bookshop, Firenzewikidata.org
3. 3Libreria delle donne di Firenzeit.wikipedia.org