Outlook on Women
By Bob Hammerling
Bob has been a staff writer with O . A . T . for 11 years , with 15 stamps in his passport and Sicily on the short list of destinations to visit next .
Right : After decades spent in hiding from the mafia , Piera Aiello was elected to Italy ’ s Chamber of Deputies in 2019 and is using her platform to help protect her fellow Sicilians from this shadowy organization .
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Out of the shadows and into the spotlight
How Piera Aiello won her life back from the Sicilian mafia
On June 13 , 2018 , shortly after being elected as one of Italy ’ s newest members of parliament , Piera Aiello
lifted her veil and showed her face to the world for the first time in more than 20 years . After decades spent hiding from the mafia , she was ready to take her life back — and to use her new office to help protect others from this ruthless organization .
Like many Sicilians , the arc of Piera ’ s life was bent off course by the gravitational pull of the mafia . After 14 years of an otherwise idyllic childhood in Partanna , Piera ’ s life changed forever when she met a boy : Nicolò Atria , the son of Don Vito Atria , who she soon came to realize was the boss of the local mafia . Sensing danger , Piera tried to end the relationship , but Don Vito countered with a grim declaration , accompanied by an even darker warning : “ You and Nicolò will soon be married . I know you love your family very much .”
By the time Piera was 18 , the two were unhappily wed . Nine days later , Don Vito lay dead in a vineyard , assassinated by rival mafiosi . Nicolò swore revenge , but would share his father ’ s fate in 1991 , when masked assassins arrived at his home and murdered him in front of Piera and their young daughter , Vita , putting a violent end to four years of an abusive marriage .
Piera and Vita survived the assault , and , facing a crossroads , Piera made another lifechanging decision . She went to the police and demanded — perhaps to the surprise of the police most of all — to testify against the mafia . She then began 27 years of life as a ghost , assuming a new identity and being entrusted to the care of Paolo Borsellino , an Italian magistrate and notorious anti-mafia crusader , who swore to protect her : “ Nothing will happen to you .. I will certainly die before you .” Borsellino ’ s oath would prove prophetic , when he was assassinated in 1992 in a high-profile car bombing that shook the world .
In the face of so much death and despair , Piera could have been forgiven for choosing to lay low , and to spend the rest of her days enjoying a life of quiet anonymity in Northern Italy with her new family . But when Italy ’ s Five Star Movement — a populist , anti-establishment political party — found inspiration in her story and invited her to run for elected office under her real name , it was her own teenage daughter who convinced her to accept .
After a dramatic and unusual campaign — in which she could not show her face , pose for photographs , or hold public rallies — she ultimately prevailed , taking office in 2018 , and her life back along with it . As someone who is all too familiar with the dangers that Italians face when they decide to stand up to the mafia , Piera is making it her business to ensure that the government does its job to protect those who have the courage to come forth .
Although she still travels with a police escort , she ’ s not going back into the shadows any time soon : “ I have decided to stand so those who rebel against the mafia are not marginalized … I decided to become a candidate because I , Piera Aiello , wanted my face back . And I have got it .”
18 DISPATCHES • AUGUST 2022