Sister Maria Laura Mainetti was born in Colico on August 20th, 1939; she was baptized in the church of San Bernardino in Villatico, a hamlet of Colico, on the 22nd August.

Her first name was Teresina Mainetti.

A few days after her birth, on September 2nd, she lost her mother due to postpartum septicemia.

Sister Maria Amelia, a friend of her deceased mother, took care of her education. Making her continue the studies with the congregation, Le figlie della Croce.

She received Confirmation in Villatico, and then began middle school in Parma, in aschool run by Le figlie della Croce.

After middle school she attended the teaching institute, which she finished in Rome in 1960.

Later she communicates her decision to become a religious to the family, but a pulmonary tuberculosis immediately hinders her vocation.

In 1958 she entered the novitiate with the name of Maria Laura: Maria in honor of the Virgin, Laura to remember the daughter of the benefactress who had promised her to study. 30 years later she was appointed superior of the community.

She was killed in 2000 by three young girls, to whom she should have helped, in the village of Chiavenna.

The following year, the Movimento per la vita dedicated its new headquarters to Sister Maria Laura and, again in her honor, the Sister Maria Laura Foundation was born in Chiavenna to support initiatives against youth discomfort and for the creation of a center for life aid.

The Lombardy region awarded her the Rosa Camuna prize.

In 2020 Pope Francis authorizes the promulgation of the decree that recognizes martyrdom and therefore establishes the beatification of Sister Maria Laura Mainetti as she was killed “in hatred of the faith”.

The ceremony took place in Chiavenna on June 6th, 2021.