Josefina Passadori

Who was Josefina Passadori?

Josefina Passadori was an Argentinian writer who published several textbooks as well as poetry under the nom de plume Fröken Thelma. Passadori was also a politician and educator.

Passadori was born in Mezzanino, Pavia, Italy. In 1922 she graduated from Escuela Normal de Profesoras “Mary O’Graham” of La Plata, college at which she taught during almost forty years, mostly Spanish, Italian, History, Geography and Literature. Also worked for other schools, such as the Escuela Normal de la Inmaculada in La Plata, the Escuela Nº 18 del Consejo Escolar Nº14 in Buenos Aires, the School of Journalism of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and the Universidad Popular Sarmiento, for which she was the President for several years.

At twenty, she founded the first Latin American school cooperative, of which she was also the first president. She was also the head of many other cultural institutions; for instance, the Arts Society; and was the Education Undersecretary in the province of Buenos Aires and, later on, the Minority Secretary for the same state.

Passadori published hundreds of articles in El Argentino, El Día, and Revista del Suboficial; gave conferences; and sponsored the "Ediciones del Bosque", an organization which promoted and published all of the intellectuals in Buenos Aires, including Raúl Amaral, María Dhialma Tiberti, María de Villarino, and others. She published over 30 textbooks, some in collaboration with other authors, such as the Manual del Alumno used by many generations in Argentina.