Ella Rosa Giovanna Oliva Tambussi was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, the only child of an Italian immigrant family. After high school, she attended Mount Holyoke College, earning a B.A and then an M.A in economics and sociology. During WW2, she worked as a researcher for the War Manpower Commission in Washington, DC, later serving as assistant director of research until 1946.
In 1942, at the age of 23, she married Thomas Grasso. At the time, she became involved in politics, joining the League of Women Voters and working as a speechwriter for the Connecticut Democratic Party. She became more and more active in the local politics, and in 1952, at 33, Grasso was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives and reelected again in 1954. In this position, she fought against housing discrimination and for equal rights legislation. In 1955, during her second term, she became the first woman to be elected floor leader.
In 1958, 39 years old Grasso got nominated as Connecticut Secretary of the State, serving in this position for 12 years. Grasso turned the office into a “people’s lobby” encouraging the citizens to seek solutions from their representatives. During this period, Grasso was the first woman appointed as chair of the Democratic State Platform Committee. She also was a member of the Platform Drafting Committee for the Democratic National Convention of 1960 and co-chaired the Resolutions Committees of the Democratic National Conventions in 1964 and 1968.
In 1970, at 51, Grasso was elected to the U.S Congress, and then again in 1972. In this position, she served on the Education and Labor Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
On January 8th, 1975, 56 years old Grasso became the first woman to be elected governor of Connecticut and the first in the U.S to be elected governor in her own right, without having been the spouse or widow of a former governor. She served in this position for 6 years after been reelected in 1976.
In early 1980, Grasso was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, resigning from governorship on New Year’s Eve. Grasso died five weeks after leaving office when she is only 61 years old.
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