Maria De Unterrichter Jervolino

De Unterrichter was born in Wulsan in Austria-Hungary (now Ossana in Italy) in 1902,^[1] the daughter of Arturo De Unterrichter and Santa Belli. During World War I the family moved to Innsbruck, but returned to Wulsan, now part of Italy, after the war.^[2] She completed her education at the Liceo classico Giovanni Prati [it], before studying literature at the Sapienza University of Rome. She subsequently became a teacher. Between 1925 and 1929 she served as president of the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students. In 1930 she married Angelo Raffaele Jervolino; the couple moved to Naples, where they had a daughter, Rosa.^[2]

In the 1946 general elections De Unterrichter and her husband were elected to the Constituent Assembly as representatives of Christian Democracy. She was re-elected in the 1948 elections on the national list, and then in 1953 from Salerno–Avellino–Benevento; the following year she was appointed Undersecretary for Public Education. She was re-elected again in 1958, with her brother Guido also elected to the Senate. She served in the Chamber until retiring from politics in 1963.^[2]

After leaving parliament, De Unterrichter became a member of the Italian commission at UNESCO and served as president of the Italian committee of the World Organisation for Preschool Education, as well as being a founder of the Centre of Professional Education for Social Workers, of which she remained president until death. She served as world vice president of Association Montessori Internationale and president of the Opera Nazionale Montessori.

De Unterrichter died in Rome in 1975.^[2] Her daughter Rosa later served as Minister of Public Education and Minister of the Interior during the 1990s.

• Adele Bei Chamber of Deputies