International Women’s Day, which has been annually observed every March 8th since 1911, is a celebration of the economic, political and social contributions of women in society, as well as a call to action to raise awareness about continued inequality, stereotypes, and discrimination.
In Italian, this day is formally known as La giornata internazionale della donna which literally means “the international day of women”. However, in advertisements, press releases and everyday Italian, it is much more common to hear it referred to as la Festa della Donna, a name not everyone appreciates since the word festa (party) is associated with merrymaking and festivities, rather than deep reflection and appreciation.
With that said, there are two possible ways you can wish someone a Happy International Women’s Day in Italian, both of which contain the word donna (woman). More formally, you can say:
Buona giornata internazionale della donna!
Happy International Women’s Day!
Or, more informally, you can opt for the greeting:
Buona Festa della Donna!
Happy Women’s Day!
In either case, Italians use the feminine adjective buona (literally “good” or in this case “happy”) to turn the phrases into a proper greeting.
The Mimosa – The Italian Women’s Day Flower
A vivid memory I have from my time living in Italy is walking through Piazza Vittorio in Torino on International Women’s Day and receiving small bunches of honey-scented yellow flowers from male strangers and friends alike. I soon learned that this flower was called mimosa and that men observe the holiday by giving them to women, even random passers-by apparently!
The tradition originated in 1946 with communist politician Teresa Mattei, who felt that the French symbols of International Women’s Day, viole (violets) and mughetti (lilies of the valley), were too scarce and expensive for the poor rural population of Italy, so she proposed the mimosa (plural: mimose) as a more affordable alternative.
Famous Quotes for International Women’s Day
Frasi Famose per la Festa della Donna
Below you will find ten of our favourite famous quotes for International Women’s Day. You can include them in a greeting card, say them out loud to a strong woman in your life, or simply enjoy reading them!
Se gli uomini fossero belli ed intelligenti, si chiamerebbero donne.
If men were beautiful and intelligent, they would be called women.
– Audrey Hepburn
8 marzo. Uomini, oltre alle mimose portate anche il rispetto.
8th of March. Men, in addition to mimosas, also show (literally: bring) respect.
– Giuseppe Donadei
Senza il sorriso delle donne, il mondo sarebbe eternamente buio.
Without women’s smiles, the world would be eternally dark.
– Fabrizio Caramagna
Essere donna è così affascinante… È un’avventura che richiede un tale coraggio, una sfida, che non finisce mai.
Being a woman is so fascinating… It’s an adventure that requires such courage, a challenge, that never ends.
– Oriana Fallaci
Quando si scrive delle donne bisogna intingere la penna nell’arcobaleno e asciugare la pagina con la polvere delle ali delle farfalle.
When you write about women you have to dip your pen in the rainbow and dry the page with the dust of butterfly wings.
– Denis Diderot
Noi donne rappresentiamo il 50% della popolazione e siamo le madri dell’altro 50%. Cari uomini, guardatevi intorno: ci sono donne dappertutto. Avete veramente bisogno dell’8 Marzo per ricordarvi che le donne esistono?
We women represent 50% of the population and we are the mothers of the other 50%. Dear men, look around you: there are women everywhere. Do you really need March 8th to remind you that women exist?
– Lucina Di Meco
Una donna dovrebbe essere due cose: chi e cosa vuole.
A woman should be two things; what and who she wants.
– Coco Chanel
Le donne sono una vite su cui gira tutto.
Women are a screw on which everything turns.
– Lev Tolstoj
La donna è come una bustina di tè, non si può dire quanto è forte fino a che non la si mette nell’acqua bollente.
A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Le donne che hanno cambiato il mondo non hanno mai avuto bisogno di mostrare nulla, se non la loro intelligenza.
The women who have changed the world never needed to show anything but their intelligence.
– Rita Levi Montalcini
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
