Amalia's Tale: A Poor Peasant, an Ambitious Attorney, and a Fight for Justice
By David Kertzer
This is one of those little known chapters of social history that affected orphaned children ("espositos" or "deposited children", in Italian), wet nurses, and their families. I read it several years ago, but it has stuck with me.
In late 19th centry Italy, many poor peasant women took in foundlings to nurse in return for a small monthly income. One woman, Amalia, was concerned about the sickly appearance of a baby girl she took in; although she was assured by the orphanage that the child was healthy, Amalia contracted syphilis from the child, and sadly infected her own baby, who died, as well as her other children and her husband. Unlike other wet nurses who were similarly infected, however, Amalia decided to seek justice and found a lawyer willing to take her case against the foundling hospital and its powerful elite managers. This book details her ten-year ordeal, which led to better rights and protections for poor children and families.
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