Hhe spent most of his life in the spotlight and perhaps, who knows, for this very reason, he chose to turn it off without fanfare. Bianca Maria Piccinino wanted her last public gesture like this: no announcement, no official memory, no “news” about her. The first woman to present a news program in Italy died on 20 July 2025, at 101 years oldbut his disappearance remained confidential for months, as he wished. A discreet farewell, almost against the grain, however a woman who had contributed to building the very face of Italian television information.
Bianca Maria Piccinino, the first woman to present the Rai news program, has died
His daughter Paola Ricci kept that silencewho explained to the Adnkronos news agency how it had been a precise choice by the mother: no public communications, only informed relatives and close friends. A profound coherence with the character of the journalist who, once he left the scene, he no longer wanted to “make news”not even on his 100th birthday. Born in Trieste on 29 January 1924, to a Trieste father and a Milanese mother,
Bianca Maria Piccinino graduated in biologya path that seemed very far from the world of entertainment. Yet, in 1953, he joined the newly formed Rai which was taking its first steps with television.
An audition and on air
The entrance occurred almost by chance: an audition and, on the same day, already on air. The first appearance was for a scientific news storythe discovery of a fossil linked to the evolutionary chain. From there a very long journey began. Conducted educational programs such as “The Animal Friend”, together with Angelo Lombardi, and he also worked for Children’s TVwhen television still had a didactic and experimental tone, almost artisanal.
Emilio Fede and Bianca Maria Piccinino on TG1 at 1.30 pm (Ansa)
The turning point: fashion as a story of the country
The change of direction came at the beginning of the 1960s. After collaborations with great names in journalism and culture such as Mario Soldati and Enzo Biagi, she was entrusted with a sector that seemed “minor” at the time: fashion. It was considered a light theme, almost exclusively feminine. Piccinino transformed it into cultural and social news. He followed the ready-to-wear fashion shows in Florence, Rome and Paris, becoming the first true television face of Italian fashion.
Made in Italy journalism
In an era when images of fashion shows could only be broadcast months later, he managed to bring those events directly into the homes of Italians, telling the story of the nascent Made in Italy. These were the years of Italian fashion that conquered the world. And she was the voice of it. Not just clothes and trends: in his services, fashion became a language, a symbol of customs, a mirror of social changes. A new way of doing journalism.
Bianca Maria Piccinino, the first woman on the news
The real record came when she became the first woman to anchor a television news program. First the afternoon news on the National Channel, then Tg1 at 1.30pmthe main news program of the Rai flagship network. On March 15, 1976 he conductedtogether with Emilio Fede, the first edition of the new Tg1 after the company’s reform. At the time, the women in the editorial office could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Angela Buttiglionehired in 1969, recalled that there were only two on the news: she and Bianca Maria Piccinino. But, in a strongly male environment, their presence was not just symbolic: they paved the way for generations of female journalists.
Witness of his time
Over the years Piccinino interviewed figures who marked the twentieth century: Sophia Loren, Mikhail Gorbachev, Lady Diana, Indira Gandhi. Among his most remembered broadcasts is that of the marriage between Charles of England and Diana Spencerin 1981, one of the most followed television events of the century. His style was elegant but never detached, competent without becoming academic. A way of telling that combined precision and humanity.
The farewell to Rai and the commitment to training
Having retired in 1989, she remained in Rai for a few more years, editing the weekly “Moda” until 1994. Then he dedicated himself to teaching in fashion academiesstudying the phenomenon as a historical and social fact. He also held seminars at the universities of Madrid, Florence and Bologna, delving into topics such as fashion and costume, fashion as communicationAnd, fashion as power. In 2014, for her 90th birthday, the city of Trieste awarded her the San Giusto d’Oro Award, recognition of fellow citizens who have given prestige to the city. He also wrote books, including “What should I wear” (1987), which was very successful.
A coherent exit
After his death, the news remained unknown for a long time. The journalist Michele Bovi was the first to bring out the void, in an article on the Huffington Post Italia which he remembered how several pioneers of public television had left almost without saying goodbye. Only then did the date 20 July 2025 begin to circulate, even arriving on Wikipedia. That silence, however, was not an oversight: it was a choice. Bianca Maria Piccinino had long ago decided to escape the limelight. After forty years of television, he preferred discretion. The 100 year old was no exception either.
The legacy of a pioneer
His story tells much more than a television career. It recounts the birth of Rai, the transformation of journalism, the entry of women into editorial officesthe rise of Italian fashion as a cultural phenomenon. Above all, it tells of a professional capable of taking spaces considered marginal and transforming them into a narrative of society. In an era dominated by continuous exposure, his final gesture, disappearing without fanfare, sounds almost revolutionary. And after a whole life spent telling the news that concerned others, the last one, his own, he chose to deliberately leave out of the news.
