Carolina Invernizio (1851–1916)

Carolina Invernizio was born in Voghera, Lombardy, Italy, the daughter of a government official and his wife. In 1865, the family moved to Florence, where she attended the Istituto Magistrale (Teaching Institute) and published a story in the school newspaper, then a daring activity for a young woman. In 1877, she published her first novel, Rina, o l'angelo delle Alpi (Rina or Angel of the Alps). In a career that spanned four decades, she published nearly 130 more novels, many of them published in serial form in newspapers such as Opinione Nazionale in Florence and La Gazzetta in Turin. In 1881, she married Marcello Quintero, an army officer, with whom she had a daughter. In 1914 she moved to Cuneo, where her home became a gathering place for intellectuals and cultural figures.