'Made in Italy. Impresa al femminile': the talent of female entrepreneurs on show at Mimit

Women pioneers in the field of female entrepreneurship, many of whom were awarded the Marisa Bellisario Prize, an award that has celebrated female merit in the world of work and institutions since 1989. Women whom an exhibition at Palazzo Piacentini in Rome - 'Made in Italy. Impresa al femminile' - celebrates on the occasion of National Made in Italy Day. Organised by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, in collaboration with the Marisa Bellisario Foundation, the Comitato Impresa Donna and the National Federation of the Knights of Labour, the exhibition is dedicated to over 100 Italian women entrepreneurs with business paths that have created value, work and development for the country.

"A tribute to 100 Italian women entrepreneurs who, with courage and determination, have made a significant contribution to the economic, social and civil growth of the country," says the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, recalling that in Italy there are 1.3 million businesses led by women, out of a total of six million. "But more can and must be done, because the real strength of women," the minister recalls, "is knowing how to overcome limitations.

"A beautiful journey," emphasises Lella Golfo, founder and president of the Marisa Bellisario Foundation, "that unites the pioneers - from Luisa Spagnoli to Adele Fendi, from Inge Feltrinelli to Wanda Ferragamo - to the many successful female entrepreneurs of the present up to the young women who have invested in start-ups that look to the future. A journey that celebrates the strength, resilience and creativity of women who, with determination and passion, have broken new ground in a landscape often dominated by male stereotypes".

Photographs, videos and iconic objects tell the stories of women entrepreneurs in all Italian production sectors: from fashion to electronics, from cinematography to catering, from the most prestigious wineries to IT, from pharmaceuticals to aerospace, from handicrafts to cosmetics, from the shipbuilding industry to steel. Stories that tell the tortuous path of emancipation, conquests, sacrifices, but also of great creativity and innovation. Of women who have challenged social conventions, unhinging ancient and deep-rooted rules and cultures that for years excluded them from entrepreneurial initiative.

Lella Golfo recalls that female entrepreneurship has a rich and complex history: 'Until the 19th century, it was mainly limited to small domestic and craft activities. Women,' she recalls, 'ran workshops, laboratories and small family businesses. In the early decades of the 20th century, with increasing access to education and civil rights, they began to enter more diversified sectors and with the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, they began to launch businesses, particularly in the fashion, gastronomy and tourism sectors. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the number of female entrepreneurs continued to grow, also supported by government and European programmes and incentives.Today, female entrepreneurship in Italy represents a fundamental added value for the country's economy and society'.