Former MP leaves her estate to the municipality: villa to become public

Former MP leaves her estate to the municipality: villa to become public art school

Maria Agostina Pellegatta has left her entire estate to the Municipality of Cassano Magnago (Varese), with a specific condition that the family villa on Piazza 25 Aprile be turned into a public school of music and arts.

• The announcement was made by Mayor Pietro Ottaviani in a letter to residents.
• Pellegatta served as a PCI deputy from 1972 to 1979 and later as a senator with the Greens and Italian Communists from 2006 to 2008; she died on April 10, 2026, aged 87.
• The bequest includes the villa, its contents and financial assets, with the clear request to establish a state- or locally-recognized public school of music and/or arts.
• The municipality will start procedures to accept the inheritance with an inventory benefit, assuring that the condition will be honored responsibly.

The gesture has been presented as an investment in culture and youth for the local community: municipal authorities must now complete the administrative and legal steps to turn the testamentary wish into a concrete public project.