Rafanelli, Leda (1880–1971)

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Rafanelli, Leda (1880–1971)

Italian noveliest and short-story writer. Born 1880 in Tuscany, Italy; died 1971; m. Luigi Polli (publisher); lifelong companion of Giuseppe Monanni; children: Marsilio Monanni (b. 1910).

Went to Alexandria, Egypt (1900), where she converted to Islam and became an anarchist; with husband and Giuseppe Monanni, founded publishing house of Rafanelli-Polli; settled in Milan with Monanni (1908); with Ettore Molinari and Nella Giacomelli, formed the group Protesta umana; founded Casa Editrice Sociale to disseminate anarchist ideas; works, which denounced fascism, colonialism, clericalism, militarism, and the oppression of women, include Un sogno d'amore (1905), Seme nuove (1905–08), L'eroe della folla (1920), Incantesimo (1921), Donne e femmine (1922), L'oasi. Romanzo Arabo (1929), and Una donna e Mussolini (1946).