Teresa Bontempi helped shape the history of Ticino at the beginning of the 20th century, first as a teacher, and later as an advocate of fascism. She was a woman with two faces.
On 22 April 1945 Italian partisans, together with the Swiss secret service, foiled a plot to blow up the Simplon Tunnel. The German Wehrmacht had planned to destroy it.
On the border with fascist Italy, things were quite uncomfortable during the Second World War. But despite this, Ticino welcomed refugees with open arms and provided help on numerous occasions.
