CAIANI, MARIA ANNA. — In religion M. Margherita, born in Poggio a Caiano on 2 Nov. 1863, died in Florence on 8 Aug. 1921. Though inclined toward worldly life, she became a Dominican tertiary and increasingly devoted herself to a life of piety. After an unsuccessful attempt at enclosed novitiate, in 1894 she opened a school for children, the seed of the institute of the “Suore Mirmide del S. Cuore” (q.v.), which she founded with heroic charity for educational and welfare purposes. She was both legislator and exemplary mother. After her trials in nursing assistance in wartime hospitals, she greatly expanded the houses of the Congregation.
BIBL.: M. Rigon, La madre M. M. C., Poggio a Caiano 1945. Rosa Alba Squadrilli