The process that led women in Italy to bridge the gender gap in education is long and very controversial. Throughout the nineteenth century, women remain confined to the domestic sphere and the nascent unitary State, though secular and liberal, does not bring any substantial changes. The first laws on compulsory education do not suffice to change a deeply-rooted and widespread mentality. This paper aims to reconstruct the initial stages of female emancipation (which essentially coincide with that period of great tension and sweeping transformations commonly known as Belle Époque) through the analysis of various sources and documents. The contribution is divided into two sections: the first – context and legislation – appears in this issue of “Quaderni CIRD”; the second –memoirs and literature – is due to be published in the next issue.
