Thursday, March 08, 2012

FESTA DELLA DONNA 2012



Following last week's St David's Day bash, I had no energy left to make sweet goodies to celebrate International Women's Day so I got some squisiti biscuits, told my students about the Suffragettes and decided that the S shape could represent those brave ladies today:



A friend gave me these mimosa blossoms, as is traditional for the Festa della Donna:



Why do Italians celebrate International Women's Day with mimosa blossom?  It was the idea of the partisan, politician and women's rights campaigner Teresa Mattei, who suggested mimosa as a symbol of the day in 1946 for the simple reason that the flowers are in season at the beginning of March and could be obtained at little or no cost.  Thus the pretty blossoms continue to brighten the lives of women all over Italy on this day.

Teresa Mattei

4 comments:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Happy "Festa della Donna"! It is not a widely recognized celebration here in the USA, for some reason, but I think it is a wonderful holiday.

Jenny Woolf said...

Gorgeous flowers and a very practical reason for choosing them!

Gledwood said...

Is it celebrating something to do with the Virgin Mary..? Anyway I hope you have a good one...

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Pat. It's not a holiday here but it is well celebrated. Hi, Jenny. Yes, I think it was a great idea. Hi, Gleds. No, just celebrating women everywhere.

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