When we contacted her for an interview or to comment on a news story – particularly those involving children and adolescents – she always responded with enthusiasm. “I’ll call you back in a moment,” she said if she was busy with her work. And he promptly called back, time to free himself. Maria Rita Parsi, psychologist, psychotherapist, essayist and tireless defender of children’s rights, she was like that. She combined her competence with a great civil passion which led her to collaborate with various newspapers and go on TV.
He was 78 years old. Born in Rome on 5 August 1947, she dedicated her entire existence to studying, listening to and protecting children, becoming a point of reference for institutions, social workers and families.
Founder of Italian School of Psychoanimation (Sipa), Parsi has promoted for decades a humanistic approach to the development of human potential, capable of translating the theoretical models of psychology into concrete tools of help, prevention and growth. A vision deeply rooted in the idea that every child has the right to be listened to, respected and accompanied on their life journey.
The battle against abuse and mistreatment
In 1992 he founded the non-profit association Movimento per, with and dei bambini, which became in 2005 Movimento Bambino Onlus Foundation, of which he was president. Under his leadership, the foundation has established itself as one of the main Italian centers for the dissemination of the culture of childhood and adolescence, committed to combating abuse and mistreatment and promoting the legal and social protection of minors.
For Maria Rita Parsi, the protection of children could not be limited to reporting: it meant building networks, training aware adults, providing concrete tools to institutions and families. «Listening to the little ones» was the heart of his vision, together with the belief that prevention was the highest form of justice.
Commitment to Italian and international institutions
Alongside his clinical and training activities, Parsi has carried out intense institutional work. Since 2021 he was a member of the working group of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies dedicated to the Child Guarantee, the European initiative against poverty and social exclusion of children and adolescents. Since 2020 she was an expert at the National Observatory for Children and Adolescents at the Department for Family Policies.
Internationally, in 2012 she was elected to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, based in Geneva, a body overseeing the implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. A position of great responsibility, which allowed her to contribute to the definition of protection standards shared on a global level.
He has also held numerous positions at a national level: technical consultant of the Civil Court of Rome, member of the Coordination Committee against the sexual abuse of minors, consultant of the Parliamentary Commission for Children, member of advertising and television self-regulation committees, up to the role of commissioner of the Olaf section of the Siae. A long and complex journey, always oriented by the same mission: to guarantee children protection, dignity and a future.
Writing as an awareness tool
Author of over 100 books including scientific essays, popular texts and literary works, Maria Rita Parsi has been able to combine scientific rigor and communicative clarity, making complex topics accessible to a wide audience. Regular collaborator of various newspapers, since 1995 she was registered as a freelance journalist with the Order of Journalists of Lazio.
In his journey there was no shortage of unexpected experiences: in 1986 he also collaborated on the screenplay of the television series Holiday professiona sign of an intellectual curiosity capable of crossing different languages without ever losing sight of attention to the person. With the death of Maria Rita Parsi, Italy loses a figure of extraordinary competence and civil passion.
