Genre fiction
One of the first transgender people in Italy to undergo gender reassignment surgery and obtain a name change on official documents, Romina Cecconi was undoubtedly the first to speak publicly about it, in this autobiographical book published in 1976 and now impossible to find. With unique irony and irreverent tone, the author recounts her first loves at school, crazy nights in Florence, prostitution, working at the circus, her trip to Paris, her operation in Switzerland, prison and confinement in a small village in the Foggia area.
The backdrop is the bigoted Italy of those years, which mirrors that of the present. With its extraordinary costumes and unexpected characters, this memoir is an inexhaustible source of stories that deserve to be heard and that Fabio Mollo, director and editor of the afterword, will soon bring to the big screen.
Personal and deeply political, Romanina’s story helped pave the way for the passing of Law 164 in Italy.
Synopsis source: Lepluralieditrice.net
Publication date: 10 September 2025
Romina Cecconi (Lucca, 1941) is a trans activist and pioneer in the LGBTQ+ movement in Italy. In the 1950s, she moved to Florence; in 1967, she underwent gender reassignment surgery in Switzerland. Expelled and confined to Volturino for three years in 1968, she obtained her civil status rectification in 1972. In 1976, she published Io, la Romanina, the first trans memoir in Italy, which recounts her life with irony and courage. In 1977, she married Antonio Moschonas, a figure in the Italian gay movement. She currently lives in Bologna and continues to be considered an icon of the trans movement.
