In Italy, between 1945 and 1976, more than 12,000 women were married by proxy to partners who were unable to attend for reasons such as military service, imprisonment, or travel restrictions. Mina from Bologna was one of them. In 1961, twenty-six-year-old Mina set out to marry Dario who had moved to Eritrea to work as a veterinarian. Stubborn Mina decided that by the time she boarded a flight to Africa to join Dario she would already be called a wife, at least before the law. So, she staged her wedding and Dario’s best friend, Franco, to play the part of the groom. A few days after her proxy wedding, Mina flew to Eritrea with her pompous, lacy white dress wrapped in a big plastic bag under her arm. She reunited with real husband Dario and captured the awaited moment on colour film.
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