ABSTRACT
The history of the 'Pious Mothers of Nigrizia' represents a fruitful perspective from which to analyse female mobility during the imperial age. From 1872, when the Daniele Comboni women's institution was established, and all throughout the period of the European colonial occupations of Africa, the 'Pious Mothers of Nigrizia', that is, the nuns of the religious order founded by Comboni, were key players of the missionary project for the African evangelization. With Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, the Comboni nuns mostly turned from teaching activities to nursing care at various military hospitals, though they did maintain some presence at a few small parish schools, most of them frequented by Eritreans. The centrality of the 'Worker Nuns of Nigrizia' in Comboni's plan was certainly one of the most significant features of his project. Thus the fall of the Italian colonial government and the onset of the new British administration did not change the nature of the Comboni nuns' educational and welfare activities.
