Born in Ballarat in 1895 to parents from the Aeolian Islands, Lena Santospirito (née Virgona), dedicated her life to serving the Italian community.
From 1940 to 1960, she led the work of the Archbishop’s Committee for Italian Relief which, during World War II, provided assistance to prisoners of war and Italian internees in Australia.
At the end of the war, the committee continued to help new immigrants to tackle the problems that they faced in their new home on the other side of the world.
Thanks to state funding released in 2000, the IHS, together with the University of Melbourne, created The Santospirito Collection, an archive dedicated to the work of Lena Santospirito, nicknamed the “mamma degli italiani” (mother of the Italians).
Do you recognise yourself in one of the photos in the slideshow above, or do you know the story behind any of the moments captured?
Send the IHS an email or write to them at: CO.AS.IT. Italian Historical Society, 189 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053.
For more information, visit the IHS website.
