"A young judges' advisor at the Court of Appeal of Palermo and the wife of Judge Giovanni Falcone, although fully aware of the grave dangers to which her husband was exposed, she remained constantly by his side, enduring the same hardships and privations, always encouraging and urging him on in the tough fight he had undertaken against the Mafia. Caught up, alongside the magistrate, in a cowardly and brutal ambush, she sacrificed her life, having lived it by combining her deep feelings of affection, esteem and respect for her husband with her dedication to the highest ideals of justice (reason for the award of the Gold Medal for Civil Valour)."