Giuseppa Bolognara Calcagno

[1][3] Bolognara Calcagno is not mentioned for her "virtuousness," the main trait by which women were judged in that era, given that she had a relationship with a man much younger than her, and for this she was degraded in the eyes of 19th-century society.

[1] It appears that through her relationship with Vanni, Bolognara Calcagno wound up involved in the revolutionary movements for Italian unification that took place in 1860.

On that occasion, Bolognara Calcagno, amid the clashes in the streets of Catania, took the initiative and succeeded in taking the enemy by surprise.

[1][3] Having escaped from the area of combat, she succeeded in getting the cannon to safety in Mascalucia, where the revolutionaries who supported the formation of Italy had their headquarters.

[1][3] When the Neapolitan troops withdrew from Catania on 3 June, Bolognara Calcagno remained with the revolutionaries, fulfilling the role of vivandière.

[3] When the insurrections were over and the Italian nation was formed, she was decorated with the Silver Medal of Military Valor for her participation in the revolutionary movements.