Posted on 07 March 2019
To celebrate International Women’s day 2019, the Historical Archives of the European Union have described and made available online the photographic collection of Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso, the first woman to be elected president of an institutional body of the European Economic Community.
Having been heavily involved in union activities whilst in University where she studied law, Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso worked from 1952 to 1978 for the Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions (CISL), first as Director of Research in the international section and then as Director of the International relations office. She was also an active member of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and of the International Labour Organisation, and was involved in the creation of the European Trade Union Confederation in 1973. From 1970, Glorioso represented trade unions at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) before being appointed President of the EESC in 1978. As the first woman in this position, she declared on the day of her investiture “[We] must all recognise and be aware of woman’s role in society, production and political and union representation, mindful of the historic significance in our century of the movement towards the liberation of woman and recognition of her contribution". In 1979, she was elected to the European parliament under the Italian Communist Party ticket where she took part in the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment and the Committee on External Economic Relations.
This photographic collection is representative of her actions both as a unionist and as a woman involved in politics. The photographs illustrate the various periods of her work, from her time at the CISL and with various international organisation from unions, to her presidency at the EESC as well as her time as a member of the European Parliament.
The photographic collection is available here.
The inventory of Fabrizia Baduel Glorioso paper fonds is also available online.