Education
Foreign the following two years, she "attended forensic practice" in the office of an advocate and assisted at the sessions of the tribunals.
Foreign the following two years, she "attended forensic practice" in the office of an advocate and assisted at the sessions of the tribunals.
Her disbarring led to a movement to allow women to practice law and hold public office in Italy. Born in Pinerolo in 1855, she passed her examinations in jurisprudence at the University of Turin, Faculty of Law and received her degree on June 17, 1881. She then underwent the theoretical and practical examination of the Order of Advocates of Turin and, approved by 45 of 50 votes, was inscribed in the roll of advocates (albo degli avvocati) on August 9, 1883.
However, the inscription of a woman on the roll "did not please" the office of the attorney general (procuratore generale), who entered a complaint with the Court of Appeal of Turin.
Despite rejoinders, arguments, and examples of women advocates in other countries (such as Clara South Foltz), the attorney general argued that women were forbidden by law and public policy to enter the milizia togata. The Court of Appeal subsequently found that the inscription of Signorina Poët was illegal.
She then appealed to the Court of Cassation of Turin, but the decision of the court below was confirmed. Public debate ensued, with 25 Italian newspapers supporting women"s public roles and only three against.
All of this aside, the central questions came down to whether a husband would incur liability for his wife"s practicing advocacy and whether in the construction of the statutes, the words in the masculine gender were meant to apply to men only.