Who is Lidia Leoni from A Thread of Grace and what is their importance?

The mother of Renzo Leoni, Lidia is a feminist and political activist. She becomes la nonna to the partisans who hide in the mountains, providing them with food and helping them however she can. She gives her life in a scheme to blow up the municipal jail in an effort to free Iacopo Soncini. Lidia is bored with housework and growing old, and is frustrated and worried about her son, Renzo, who drinks too much. Lidia has marched in anti-war demonstrations and helped the resistance movement, and Renzo fears for her safety but eventually realizes that her political activity is what gives her life meaning. Disguised as a crazy old woman, she is successful in breaking the prison wall down, but is mistakenly killed by partisan bullets.