Filomena Ferrari: From Farmer to Entrepreneur—A Successful Case of Swiss Migration to Italy in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Filomena Ferrari, from a Swiss farming family, was born in the Canton Ticino in 1836. After her marriage to a Swiss kiln worker, she settled in Millesimo in the heart of central Liguria, where her husband had established himself after a period of seasonal work. The paper explores how she became one of the first female entrepreneurs of the Bormida river valley region, remaining active from 1875 (when her husband died) to her own death in 1915. In this period, Ferrari contributed to starting industrial development in the province of Savona. The paper investigates Ferrari’s personal life and choices, economic strategies, family role and her capacity for taking risks, introducing new technologies, and implementing new managerial practices.