06 April 2015 - A mini-exhibit of notable Filipino women is being featured at the lobby of the Philippine Consulate General in Milan to celebrate the International Women’s Month. Philippine Consul General to Milan Marichu Mauro officially opened the exhibit on March 25. The Filipino community in Milan was invited to the event.

The exhibit highlights nine notable Filipino women. They are Leona Florentino, who was the first Filipina poet to be featured internationally; Maria Ylagan Orosa, who invented the banana ketchup; Magdalena Leones, a brave hero who nursed the wounded during WWII while providing vital intelligence to Allied forces.

Trailblazing Filipino women featured in the exhibit are Encarnacion Alzona, the first Filipina historian and also the first Filipina to obtain a doctoral degree; Pelagia Mendoza, first known Filipina sculptor in history; and Olivia Salamanca, first female physician of the Philippines; and Maria Carpena, the first Filipino recording artist in history.

To round up the list, the exhibit also featured the lives of Clemencia Lopez y Castelo, the first Filipina to visit the White House to appeal the case of her brothers who were imprisoned in the Philippines for supporting the revolution and refusing to pledge allegiance to the US; and Nicolasa Dayrit Panlilio, the peacemaker of Pampanga who ended the rift between famous Filipino Generals Antonio Luna and Tomas Mascardo. END