Carla Lonzi Archive Finds Permanent Home at Fondazione Basso in Rome

The vast archive of Carla Lonzi, a pioneering Italian art critic and feminist, has found a permanent home at the Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso in Rome. The archive, comprising approximately five linear meters of correspondence, photographs, slides, audiocassettes, videos, typescripts, and handwritten notes, had been temporarily housed at the Galleria Nazionale di Roma since 2017. In May 2024, the Galleria Nazionale evicted the archive, sparking an outcry from scholars and associations. The Fondazione Basso, which has a direct family link to Lonzi (her sister Lidia married Carlo Basso, son of founder Lelio Basso) and a longstanding commitment to feminist thought, accepted the collection in October 2024. The archive was inventoried and digitized by the Galleria Nazionale and is now on loan from Lonzi's son, Battista Lena, who has promised additional materials. The Fondazione Basso already houses about 90 archival fonds and publishes the feminist journal 'Memoria'. President Franco Ippolito noted that Lonzi provided foundational texts for Italian feminism, described by the 'Enciclopedia delle donne' as 'the most precious thing Italian feminism has produced'. The archive is accessible to researchers by appointment.