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Sibilla Aleramo (1876-1960) Pseudonym of Rina Faccio, Italian writer, poet, political and social activist, who became known throughout Europe with her novel, Una Donna (1906; A Woman at Bay; 1908) the semi-autobiographical account of her marriage to an abusive husband and her eventual decision to leave, which meant the loss of her son. A controversial and shocking novel for its time, it was compared to Ibsen's A Doll's House.
Aleramo had been seduced by a worker, Ulderico Pierangeli, at Porto Civitanova Marche where she was employed as a book-keeper, and forced into marriage in 1893. Aleramo did not write another novel until 1919, Il Passaggio, which was a revision of Una Donna, and included details of her affair with the writer Giovanni Cena. She then published a collection of her poetry, Momenti (1920), and two volumes from her journals, Diario di una donna: Inediti 1945-60 and Un amore insolito: Inediti 1940-44, were published posthumously in 1979 and 1978 respectively, as well as essays concerned with female subjectivity and autonomy.
Although Sibilla was known in the Italian press chiefly for her love-affairs with other writers, Aleramo became an activist for political and social change, travelling to Eastern-bloc countries at the behest of the Italian Communist party.