Luisa Muraro, co-founder of the Libreria delle Donne and leading Italian feminist thinker, dies at 86

Early life and academic career

Born on 14 June 1940 in Montecchio Maggiore, Muraro earned her degree in philosophy at the Università Cattolica di Milano. In the 1970s she left academia to teach in the compulsory school system and participated in the anti-authoritarian journal L'erba voglio alongside Elvio Fachinelli and Lea Melandri. She later returned to university teaching, spending many years at the University of Verona.

Luisa was a teacher — she was one for her students, from middle school to the University of Verona, where she taught for many years and where, with others, she brought to life the Diotima philosophical community; for the women and men who read and listened to her; for those who had the fortune to think with her.

Founding the Libreria delle Donne and Diotima

In 1975 Muraro co-founded the Libreria delle Donne di Milano with Lia Cigarini and others, creating a political and cultural space that became a landmark for Italian feminism. In 1984, at the University of Verona, she co-founded the Diotima philosophical community together with Adriana Cavarero, Anna Maria Piussi and other scholars. The group remains active, dedicated to studies of sexual difference and feminist thought.

Philosophical contributions

Muraro's work centred on second-wave feminism and the thought of sexual difference. She translated the works of Belgian philosopher Luce Irigaray into Italian and authored numerous books, including Maglia o uncinetto (1981), Guglielma e Maifreda (1985), L'ordine simbolico della madre (1991), Il Dio delle donne (2003) and Non è da tutti (2011). Her most recent publication, Esserci davvero (2025), was a dialogue with Clara Jourdan.

Luisa was for many a source of orientation; with her thought she made us capable of truly being there, of going deep into the present.

Tributes from fellow feminists

Lea Melandri, a historic activist who worked with Muraro in the 1970s, acknowledged their later differences while stressing an unbroken connection. The Libreria delle Donne announced her death on social media, describing her as the greatest teacher many had ever met.

A divergence on feminist positions drove us apart without interrupting a critical dialogue at a distance. The thread of the long history we shared never broke.