Carmela Covato, A room for her. Daughters and exemplary fathers: the Pietro Verri case

 

The essay – moving from a critical reflection on the historiographical and pedagogical debate on the so-called ‘discovery of childhood’ – aims at examining how new behaviours and lifestyles in the fathers-children relationship slowly emerged from late Eighteenth century onwards, with particular focus to the fathers-daughters relationship. The investigation focuses on the fortune of the Rousseauian legacy in pioneering experiences made by enlightened intellectuals, who devoted special attention to marginal figures at the time, such as girls, and to intense and unprecedented affective relationships. The study focuses on the case of Pietro Verri who, at the end of the century of Enlightenment, conceived for his little daughter Teresa a new educational project and a room exclusively for her. Therese, when grown up, entered into conflict with her caring but intransigent father and strogly asked for autonomy, in the quest for a room exclusively for herself.

 

Keywords: History, little daughters, rooms, exemplary fathers.

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Published on: N. 30 New Series – Year XV 2019 – Spaces and Childhood