Anna Maria TORLONTANO

Women Committee Chairman
 

Anna Maria Torlontano studied Law at Rome University and lives in Pescara, Italy.

She has a wide range of interests. In her busy life, she specialized in public relations and dealt with gastronomy as a member of the Italian Cooking Academy. She also served as an Executive of the Music and Theatre Academy in her home town. When her two daughters were young, she developed an interest in pedagogy, and later on she founded a School of Classic Dance which is still going strong. However, her favourite pastime was and remains bridge.

Her bridge career started in 1975 when she was elected President of the Bridge Association of Pescara. Three years later, she joined the Board of the Italian Bridge Federation and took over the women section. Starting from scratch, she managed to boost participation in national women championships to 340 pairs and 182 teams in four years time!

In 1985, she was elected to the Executive Committee of the European Bridge League (EBL). She was immediately appointed Chairman of the EBL Women Committee, and again the results were spectacular. She was re-elected by the EBL Congress in 1987, 1991, 1999 and 2003 as an Executive, while she also served as EBL Vice President (1995-99). In 1999 she was awarded the EBL Gold Medal for her services.

Anna Maria Torlontano joined the WBF Executive Council as a member in 1993 and served until 2002. In 1999, the WBF Women Committee was founded, and she was appointed to lead this sensitive area once also at world level. She is still holding this position today. In recognition of her great services to bridge, in 2003 she received the WBF Gold Medal.