The role of female university students of the FUCI within the Italian universities during fascism and post-war reconstruction

This contribution intends to reflect on the birth and the role of the female section of the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI) between the 1920s and the post-war period. In greater detail, within the complex national university context, female Catholic university students aimed to define their representation in an increasingly preponderant way within a historically patriarchal environment and to offer a valid alternative to modern women’s movements of secular inspiration, while not failing to respect the principles and ideals of Catholic associationism. Despite the traditional cultural legacy that essentially relegated women to the home, during the course of the twentieth century female Catholic university students succeeded in transforming their apostolic commitment and placing it at the service of women’s mobilisation. In fact, they managed to promote a renewed conception of study and civic responsibilities, which were seen as indispensable opportunities for personal growth, as well as both social and professional affirmation.