Lina Galli grew up in Austro-Hungary in the later Italian part of Croatia, and showed no understanding for the Croatian and Slovenian aspirations for freedom. She studied in Koper, now Slovenia. During World War II, she moved to Trieste, Italy, and taught at an elementary school. She became a well-known figure in the city’s art circles, and became acquainted with the most important local men of letters and artists. She started writing novels for children, but is best remembered for her poetry. In 1950, Galli published – together with his widow – a biography of the Italian writer Italo Svevo as a limited edition, considered one of the most important sources of his life. In addition, she published numerous literary contributions in Italian magazines. Her main topics of her poetry were the agony of every-day-life, World War II, and the exodus of the Italians from Istria after the war, although she herself had not been expelled.