Maria Antonietta Torriani

Maria Antonietta Torriani was an Italian journalist and fiction writer. Much of her work was published under the pen name Marchesa Colombi, a character in the comedy La satira e Parini by Paolo Ferrari. Early life and education She was born in Novara in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy on January 1, 1840. Her father, Luigi Torriani, was a watchmaker, and her mother, Carolina Imperatori, was an elementary school teacher. A year after her birth, her father died at the age of 32. She had an older sister, Giuseppina, and a younger half-brother, Tommaso. She attended the primary school where her mother taught, and spent four years at the Bellini Institute of Arts and Crafts, where she excelled academically. She earned her teaching diploma studying at a convent in the Lake Orta region. Career