Cordula "Lina" Poletti (27 August 1885 – 12 December 1971) was an Italian writer, poet, playwright, and feminist. Often described as beautiful and rebellious, she was prone to wear men's clothing and is considered one of the first women in Italy to openly declare her lesbianism. Early life and education Cordula Poletti was born on 27 August 1885 in Ravenna to Rosina Donati and Francesco, as the third of four daughters. Her family was well-to-do and owned a home near the Piazza del Popolo. She studied with Giovanni Pascoli at the University of Bologna and completed her education in 1907 with a thesis which analyzed the poetry of Giosuè Carducci. Career and activism In 1908 she attended the First National Congress of Women (Primo Congresso Femminile Nazionale) hosted by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Donne Italiane (National Council of Italian Women, CNDI) in Rome. The conference marked a change in the women's movement in Italy from a focus on humanitarian welfare projects to a commitment to women's suffrage and full recognition of women's legal and civic rights. There she met the well-known writer Sibilla Aleramo, who shared her commitment to social change that would eliminate the subordinate position women held in Italian society. Following the conference, the two women worked on an educational endeavor to provide education to rural peasantry and on relief efforts in Calabria and Sicily following the December 1908 earthquake. Poletti and Aleramo soon became involved in a passionate relationship, despite the fact that Aleramo was living with , a noted poet from Turin since 1902. Aleramo expressed in her letters to Poletti that she never felt guilt for having loved both of them at the same time, but both Poletti and Cena had difficulty accepting that she could love each of them. Poletti was unable to persuade Aleramo to choose between them and both Cena and Poletti ended their relationship with her by late 1910. The following year, Poletti married Santi Muratori, the director of the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna, though they did not live together. Shortly after their marriage, she met Eleonora Duse, at the time a popular stage actress, and became involved with her. The two moved in together in a house located in Florence, Italy, where Poletti started working on plays for Duse. They then moved to Venice, but their affair was passionate and volatile, causing Poletti to end it after about two years.