Monna Tessa The philanthropist “nanny”
Monna Tessa, who was she? Changing the famous phrase of The Betrothed, she wasn’t a philosopher, but, according to tradition, the inspirer of the foundation of a fundamental Florentine institution; nevertheless, as much as Carneade in the Manzoni Novel, an almost forgotten figure today. She was the Portinari educator and governess, family factotum and trustworthy women; she brought up and trained Beatrice, “forbidden” and idealized love of Dante, but what makes us her precious it’s above all that she persuaded Beatrice’s father, Folco Portinari, to finance the foundation of the hospital known today as Santa Maria Nuova.
