4 April

Daniela Riccardi - businesswoman

Head of upmarket stationery company trained as a ballet dancer

Born on this day in 1960, Daniela Riccardi in 2013 became chief executive of Baccarat, the luxury glass and crystal manufacturer that originated in the town of the same name in the Lorraine region of France in the 18th century, taking up the same position with the upmarket stationery company Moleskine in 2020.  Formerly CEO of the Italian clothing company Diesel, she is one of Italy's most successful businesswomen, yet might easily have forged alternative careers as a dancer or a diplomat.  Born in Rome, she began dancing when she was five and studied ballet for 12 years at the National Dance Academy in Rome, with the aim of becoming a professional dancer.  When it became clear that she would not quite be good enough to grace the world's great stages, she remained determined to have a career that would satisfy her desire to experience many countries and cultures and went to Rome University to study political science and international studies, with the aim of working in diplomacy.  However, during a postgraduate year in the United States, she spent a period as an intern at Pepsi, where she was impressed by the energy and leadership of the company's management. Read more…

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Francesco De Gregori - singer-songwriter

Performer inspired by songs of hero Bob Dylan

The singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori - popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" (the prince of the singer-songwriters) – was born on this day in 1951.  Born in Rome, De Gregori has released around 40 albums in a career spanning 45 years, selling more than five million records.  Famous for the elegant and often poetic nature of his lyrics, De Gregori was once described by Bob Dylan as an “Italian folk hero”.  De Gregori acknowledges Dylan as one of his biggest inspirations and influences, along with Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer Fabrizio de André.  Covers of Dylan songs have regularly featured in his stage performances. He made an album in 2015 entitled Love and Theft: De Gregori Sings Bob Dylan.  Born into a middle class family – his father was a librarian, his mother a teacher - De Gregori spent his youth living in Rome or on the Adriatic coast at Pescara. He began to develop his musical career at the Folkstudio in Rome’s Trastevere district, where Dylan had performed in 1962.   He became friends with fellow singer-songwriters Antonello Venditti, Mimmo Locasciulli and Giorgio Lo Cascio.  Read more…

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Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli - composer

Neapolitan who snubbed Napoleon wrote 37 operas

The composer Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, who wrote 37 mainly comic operas and more than 500 pieces of sacred music, was born on this day in 1752 in Naples.  His success made him one of the principal composers of opera and religious music of his time. At various points in his career, he was maestro di cappella - music director - at Milan Cathedral, choir master at the Sistine Chapel and director of the Naples Conservatory.  Many of Zingarelli’s operas were written for Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Early in his career he worked in Paris, which held him in good stead later when he was arrested after refusing to conduct a hymn for the newly-born son of the Emperor Napoleon, who at the time was the self-proclaimed King of Italy.  Sometimes known as Nicola, the young Zingarelli studied from the age of seven at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, which was the original conservatory of Naples, dating back to 1537. He was tutored by Fedele Fenaroli, whose pupils also included Domenico Cimarosa and, later, Giuseppe Verdi, and also by Alessandro Speranza.  As a young man, Zingarelli earned a living as a violinist, while also composing.  Read more…

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Irene Pivetti – journalist and politician

From top political office to TV presenter

Irene Pivetti, who was only the second woman to become president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, was born on this day in 1963 in Milan.  Once a key figure in Italy’s Lega Nord party, Pivetti quit politics for a career as a television presenter.  Pivetti obtained an honours degree in Italian literature from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and afterwards worked in publishing, editing books on the Italian language. In this she was following in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather, Aldo, a renowned linguist.  While working as a journalist, she became involved with the Lega Lombardia (Lombard League), which later became the Lega Nord (Northern League) and in 1992 was elected as a deputy, the Italian equivalent of a Member of Parliament.  Two years later, after the vote had gone to a fourth ballot, Pivetti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. At the age of 31, she was the youngest president in the Chamber’s history. She occupied the role from 1994 to 1996.  Pivetti was re-elected as a deputy in the 1996 election but later that year was expelled from the Lega Nord because of her opposition to some of their ideas.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Her Story! A Tribute to Italian Women: From earliest times to the present, by Peter Loyson

This unique book is a must read for everyone who loves Italian culture and those who appreciate talented women. Extensively researched with hundreds of references, it is a comprehensive encyclopedic analysis highlighting the length and breadth of Italy’s most incredibly talented women, including 114 writers, 56 opera singers, 63 other singers, 55 musicians, 52 film icons, 39 fashion designers, 59 medical women, 40 chefs, 47 artists, 23 academics and 114 sportswomen, amongst others, totalling more than 900 individuals. Her Story! discusses their achievements in chronological order in each of their fields with many interesting stories, including a chapter on the emigration of impressive female Italian talent.

Peter Loyson is a retired Professor of Chemistry at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where his wife founded an Italian Culture Club. Her Story! evolved from Loyson's research into the first three women in the world who obtained a doctorate at recognised universities, which introduced him to the brilliant Italian women of the Renaissance and later times.

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3 April

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – composer

Versatile musician wrote for stringed instruments and for films

One of the most admired composers of the 20th century, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, was born on this day in 1895 in Florence.  He composed more than 100 pieces of music for the guitar, many of them written for the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia.  Because of anti-semitism in Europe, Mario emigrated to the United States in 1939 where he went to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, composing music for about 200 films.  Mario was descended from a family of bankers that had lived in Siena since the Jews were expelled from Spain in the 16th century.  He was introduced to the piano by his mother and was composing music by the time he was nine years old. His mother recognised his musical talent and encouraged him to study the piano and composition under well-regarded musicians.  Mario came to the attention of the composer and pianist Alfredo Casella, who included some of his work in his repertoire and promoted him throughout Europe as an up-and-coming young composer.  In 1926, Mario’s first opera, La mandragola, was premiered. Based on a play by Niccolò Machiavelli, it was the first of his many works inspired by great literature.  Read more…

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Maria de’ Medici – the tragic daughter of Cosimo I

Grand Duke grief stricken after death of clever child

Maria de’ Medici, the beautiful, eldest child of Cosimo I de’ Medici was born on this day in 1540 in Florence. The apple of her father’s eye, she was one of the brightest of the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s children, but she was destined to lead a very short life.  Maria was the daughter of Cosimo I and Eleonora di Toledo and was Cosimo’s first legitimate child. He had fathered an illegitimate daughter, Bia de’ Medici before his marriage to Eleonora but she had died young.   Maria was educated with her brothers and was reputed to have been so clever that when her brother, Francesco, didn’t understand his Greek lesson, his tutors would ask Maria to explain it to him.  She grew up to be an elegant, highly educated, and decorous young woman according to contemporary accounts and a marriage was arranged for her with Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. However, Maria died unexpectedly in November 1557 at the age of 17.  Maria’s death occurred while she was staying in Livorno and the most likely cause is thought to have been that she contracted malaria.  However, another cause for her death is suggested in a book called The Tragedies of the Medici by Edgcumbe Staley.  Read more… 

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Alcide De Gasperi - prime minister who rebuilt Italy

Christian Democrat founder was jailed by Mussolini

Born on this day in 1881, Alcide De Gasperi was the Italian prime minister who founded the Christian Democrat party and led the rebuilding of the country after World War II.  An opponent of Benito Mussolini who survived being locked up by the Fascist dictator, he was the head of eight consecutive governments between 1945 and 1953, a record for longevity in post-War Italian politics.  Although Silvio Berlusconi has spent more time in office - nine years and 53 days compared with De Gasperi's seven years and 238 days - the media tycoon's time in power was fragmented, whereas De Gasperi served continuously until his resignation in 1953.  As prime minister, De Gasperi was largely responsible for Italy's post-War economic salvation and for helping to hold the line between East and West as the Soviet Union established its border on Italy's doorstep.  During his premiership, Italy became a republic, signed a peace treaty with the Allies, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and became an ally of the United States, who in turn provided considerable help in reviving the shattered Italian economy.  Read more…

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Alessandro Stradella – violinist and composer

Talented musician lived for romance and adventure

Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella, who led a colourful life courting danger while producing more than 300 highly regarded musical works, was born on this day in 1639 at Nepi in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome in the Lazio region.  After an affair with the mistress of a Venetian nobleman he was attacked in the street and left for dead by two hired assassins, but he lived on for another few years to compose more music.  Five years later he was stabbed to death in Genoa, but the identity of his killers was never confirmed.  Stradella was born into an aristocratic family and by the age of 20 was making a name for himself as a composer.  He moved to Rome where he composed sacred music for Queen Christina of Sweden, who had abdicated her throne to go and live there.  It is believed he tried to embezzle money from the Roman Catholic Church and his numerous reckless affairs with women also made him enemies among powerful people in the city.  In 1637 he moved to Venice where he was hired by a nobleman, Alvise Contarini, as a music tutor to his mistress.  Stradella began an affair with her and they attempted to elope together to Turin in 1677.  Read more…

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Maria Redaelli - supercentenarian

Inter fan who was the oldest living person in Europe

Maria Angela Redaelli, a supercentenarian who for 10 months was the oldest living person in Europe and for 14 months the oldest living person in Italy, was born on this day in 1899 in Inzago in Lombardy.  She died in 2013 on the eve of what would have been her 114th birthday, at which point she was the fourth oldest living person in the world, behind the Japanese supercentenarians Jiroemon Kimura and Misao Okawa, and the American Gertrude Weaver.  Kimura died two months later at the age of 116 years and 54 days, which is the most advanced age reached by any male in the history of the human race, according to verifiable records.  Okawa and Weaver survived for another two years, Okawa reaching 117 years and 27 days, which made her the fifth oldest woman in history at the time, although she was later overtaken by the Italian Emma Morano, who lived in Pallanza on Lake Maggiore until she was 117 years and 137 days.  At the time of her death, Maria was living in Novate Milanese, a suburb of Milan, being looked after by her 88-year-old daughter Carla and her grandson, Lamberto.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Italian Film Music, 1950s-1970s: Between Tradition, Innovation, and Internationalisation, by Franco Sciannameo

The music heard in Italian cinema along the arch of the three decades highlighted in this book, has not only made history but has become an unspoken patrimony of humanity. This book provides a platform to build a lasting tribute to those composers who were, indeed, the "sounding" protagonists of hundreds of films - from Fellini's La dolce vita to Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso to a myriad of cultural documentaries and productions made for cinema and television. The book is divided into three parts comprising essays on the music of Nino Rota, lesser-known composers yet important on the national circuit like Carpi, Gervasio, Vlad, and Chailly, and four essays dedicated to the towering figure of Ennio Morricone whose legacy will continue to hover over Italian cinema of the 50s-70s for many decades to come. Italian Film Music, 1950s-1970s includes and introductory essay, 17 chapters annotated and provided with musical examples, tables, and iconographic material written by internationally known academics specialising in Italian film music; bibliographies and abstracts following each essay; biographies of the contributing authors; and an index organized by names and subjects, make this volume an indispensable research tool free of geopolitical barriers and ideological constraints in the burgeoning field of film music.

Born in Puglia, violinist, musicologist, and cultural historian Franco Sciannameo is Professor of Musicology in the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University and Visiting Professor of Applied Musicology in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

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2 April

NEW - Gaetano Casanova - actor

Best known as father of history’s most celebrated Lothario

Gaetano Casanova, an actor and dancer who fathered two noted painters but, more famously, the notorious 18th century libertine Giacomo Casanova, was born on this day in 1697 in Parma.  From a family originally from the Aragon region of Spain, Gaetano followed the lead of his brother, Giambattista, in leaving the family home in 1713, at the age of 16. He became infatuated with a much older woman, Giovanna Benozzi, who was a commedia dell’arte actress with a touring troupe.  However, Benozzi, who went under the stage name of La Fragoletta - the Little Strawberry - was not so enthusiastic and instead married one of the troupe’s stars, Francesco Balletti, who hailed from a family of famous actors and was their specialist in the role of Arlecchino - Harlequin.  Crestfallen, the young Geatano left the troupe and went to Venice, where he found work at the Teatro San Samuele.  In the event, it was not long before he found a new romantic interest, this time in the daughter of a shoemaker who kept a workshop near where Gaetano was staying. Her name was Zanetta Farussi.  Read more…

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Gelindo Bordin - marathon champion

First Italian to win Olympic gold in ultimate endurance test

Gelindo Bordin, the first Italian to win the gold medal in the Olympic Marathon, was born on this day in 1959 in Longare, a small town about 10km (six miles) south-east of Vicenza.  Twice European marathon champion, in 1986 and 1990, he won the Olympic competition in Seoul, South Korea in 1988.  Until Stefano Baldini matched his achievements by winning the marathon at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and claiming his second European title in Gothenburg in 2006, Bordin was Italy’s greatest long-distance runner.  He attained that status somewhat against the odds, too, having been sidelined for a year with a serious intestinal illness at the age of 20 and then being hit by a car while on a training run.  Bordin’s victory in Seoul at last made up for the disappointment the Italy team had suffered 80 years earlier when Dorando Pietri crossed the line first in the marathon at the London Olympics of 1908 only to be disqualified. In a bizarre finish to the race, Pietri took a wrong turn on entering the White City Stadium and had to be helped to his feet five times after collapsing on the track through exhaustion.  Read more…

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Achille Vianelli - painter and printmaker

Artist from Liguria who captured scenes of Naples

The painter and printmaker Achille Vianelli, whose specialities were landscapes and genre pictures, notably in his adopted city of Naples, died on this day in 1894 in Benevento in Campania.  For a while he worked at the French court, giving painting lessons to King Louis Philippe. Some of his works have sold for thousands of euros.  Vianelli was born in 1803 in Porto Maurizio in Liguria. When he was a child, his family moved more than 1,200km (750 miles) to the other end of the Italian peninsula to the coastal town of Otranto in the province of Lecce, where his father, Giovan Battista Vianelli, Venetian-born but a French national, had been posted as a Napoleonic consular agent.  Achille spent his youth in Otranto before, in 1819, he moved to Naples. His father and sister moved to France, although they would return to Naples in 1826. Achille took a job in the Royal Topographic Office.  In Naples, he became close friends with Giacinto Gigante, with whom he shared an interest in painting. Together, they studied landscape painting, attending the school of the German painter Wolfgang Hüber.  Read more…

Giacomo Casanova – adventurer

Romantic figure escaped from prison in a gondola 

Author and adventurer Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was born on this day in 1725 in Venice.  He is so well known for his affairs with women that his surname is now used as an alternative word for ‘womaniser’.  Yet Casanova’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, has come to be regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about European social life produced during the 18th century.  Casanova was widely travelled, had several different professions and was a prolific writer but he spent a lot of his time having romantic liaisons and gambling.  The Venice into which he was born was the pleasure capital of Europe, a required stop on the Grand Tour for young men coming of age, because of the attractions of the Carnival, the gambling houses and the courtesans.  Casanova graduated from the University of Padua with a degree in law and had a short career as an ecclesiastical lawyer before setting out on his adventures.  He was attractive to women, being tall and dark and wearing his long hair powdered and curled.  At various times he worked as a clergyman, military officer, violinist, businessman and spy.  Read more…

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Francesca Cuzzoni - operatic soprano

Diva who came to blows with rival on stage

Francesca Cuzzoni, an 18th century star whose fiery temper earned her a reputation as one of opera’s great divas, was born on this day in 1696 in Parma.  Described rather unkindly by one opera historian of the era as “short and squat, with a doughy face” she was nonetheless possessed of a beautiful soprano voice, which became her passport to stardom.  However, she was also notoriously temperamental and jealous of rival singers, as was illustrated by several incidents that took place while she was in the employment of George Frideric Handel, the German composer who spent much of his working life in London.  Already established as one of the finest sopranos in Europe, Cuzzoni was hired by Handel in 1722.  Handel at that time was Master of the Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music, the company set up by a group of English aristocrats to stage Baroque opera, partly for their own entertainment but also as a commercial enterprise.  One of his responsibilities was to engage the soloists for the company’s productions.  He ran into immediate trouble with Cuzzoni, who was due to make her debut in Handel’s own Italian language opera Ottone at the King’s Theatre in Haymarket.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Olympic Marathon, by David Martin and Roger Gynn 

No Olympic event can rival the rich history and grand spectacle of the marathon. Created for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 as a commemoration of the legendary run by the Greek messenger Philippides, the race has endured like no other, producing a century of awe-inspiring competition and unforgettable stories.  The Olympic Marathon brings the high drama and rich details of the 24 Olympic marathon races up to 1996 to life in a way no other book ever has. This definitive resource, written by world-renowned Olympic marathon experts David Martin and Roger Gynn, goes beyond statistics to offer readers a vivid chronicle of the athletes and their memorable marathon performances.  Fans can relive the compelling moments that have made the Olympic marathon legendary: Spiridon Louis winning the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896, Emil Zatopek's dramatic triple-gold performance in 1952, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila winning a gold medal while running barefoot, Joan Benoit Samuelson earning her place in history as winner of the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and many other fascinating stories.  Generously illustrated, often with rare and never-before-published photos, a pictorial glimpse is provided into the contemporary atmosphere and dynamics of each race. Plus, for readers who want complete statistics on each race, the book provides a comprehensive appendix. Included are chronological and alphabetical race results for all men and women who participated in the event and listings of the fastest men's and women's Olympic marathon performances.  The Olympic Marathon is the authoritative book on the race that has captured the imagination of the world.

David Martin is a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine, as well as a contributing member of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians and the International Society of Olympic Historians.  Roger Gynn began documenting marathons in the late 1950s and is today one the world's foremost experts on marathon statistics. He was the marathon statistician for the Association of Track & Field Statisticians from 1968 to 1988.

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Gaetano Casanova - actor

Best known as father of history’s most celebrated Lothario

A painting by Tiepolo, Minuet at the Villa,
taken by some to represent Zanetta and Gaetano 

Gaetano Casanova, an actor and dancer who fathered two noted painters but, more famously, the notorious 18th century libertine Giacomo Casanova, was born on this day in 1697 in Parma.

From a family originally from the Aragon region of Spain, Gaetano followed the lead of his brother, Giambattista, in leaving the family home in 1713, at the age of 16. He became infatuated with a much older woman, Giovanna Benozzi, who was a commedia dell’arte actress with a touring troupe.

However, Benozzi, who went under the stage name of La Fragoletta - the Little Strawberry - was not so enthusiastic and instead married one of the troupe’s stars, Francesco Balletti, who hailed from a family of famous actors and was their specialist in the role of Arlecchino - Harlequin.

Crestfallen, the young Geatano left the troupe and went to Venice, where he found work at the Teatro San Samuele.

In the event, it was not long before he found a new romantic interest, this time in the daughter of a shoemaker who kept a workshop near where Gaetano was staying. Her name was Zanetta Farussi.

Zanetta’s parents did not approve of their relationship, yet after less than a year they were married in secret. Her father, Girolamo, died not long afterwards, supposedly from a broken heart. Gaetano persuaded her mother, Marcia, to accept the marriage only by promising that she would not follow him into the acting profession.

Francesco Casanova's painting, The Cavalry
Battle, is currently on display at The Louvre

It proved a hollow promise.  Gaetano had a good relationship with the owner of the Teatro San Samuele, Michele Grimani, who was charmed by Zanetta’s good looks and gave her a role.

Indeed, Michele paid such attention to Zanetta that when she and Gaetano’s first child, Giacomo, was born in 1725, he suspected that Michele might be the real father.

Nonetheless, he and Zanetta stuck together and teamed up with a popular acting company to go on tour in London, where their second child, Francesco, was born in 1727.  Giacomo stayed behind in Venice, in the care of the Grimani family.

They went on to have six children before Gaetano died, sadly, at the age of only 36 after developing an infection that stemmed from an ear abscess. 

Of the six children, Francesco and Giovanni both went on to become well known in their own right as painters.

Francesco, who trained initially in the workshop of the Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Guardi, made his name painting battle scenes, a skill he learned from working with Francesco Simioni. At the height of his popularity, he sold paintings to King Louis XV of France and was commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia.

Giacomo Casanova, whose
parentage was unclear

Giovanni, a painter of the neoclassicist school, also travelled, widely in Italy and also to Paris, where he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Clement XIII for the Sorbonne university, and to Dresden, where he lived for a while with his mother and his sister, Maria Maddalena, and taught at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Yet their places in history have largely been eclipsed by their brother, Giacomo, whose colourful life after graduating from the University of Padua with a degree in law saw him work at various times as a clergyman, military officer, violinist, businessman and spy.

He frequently embarked on passionate and risky affairs with women, who were often already married. He would regularly run out of money and on several occasions was imprisoned for debt.

Prosciutto di Parma, the ham that had become one
of the edible symbols of the Emilia-Romagna city

Travel tip:

Parma, where Gaetano Casanova was born, is an historic city in the Emilia-Romagna region, famous for food and music among other things. The home of Prosciutto di Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, it has a music conservatory named after Arrigo Boito, who wrote the libretti for many of the operas composed by Giuseppe Verdi, who was born near Parma at Busseto. Parma also has a prestigious opera house, the Teatro Regio. The city was given in 1545 as a duchy to the illegitimate son of Pope Paul III, whose descendants ruled Parma till 1731. An elegant city with an air of prosperity common to much of Emilia-Romagna, Parma’s outstanding architecture includes an 11th century Romanesque cathedral and the octagonal 12th century baptistery that adjoins it, the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, which has a beautiful late Mannerist facade and bell tower, and the Palazzo della Pilotta, which houses the Academy of Fine Arts, the Palatine Library, the National Gallery and an archaeological museum.

How the Teatro San Samuele may have looked
when Gaetano Casanova was an actor and dancer

Travel tip:

The Teatro San Samuele, where Gaetano Casanova found work on his arrival in Venice and where his wife, Zanetta Farussi, began her theatrical career, was an opera house and theatre at the Rio del Duca, between San Samuele and Campo Santo Stefano. It was first opened in 1656 in Venice and the playwright, Carlo Goldoni, was the theatre’s director between 1737 and 1741. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1747 but then rebuilt and it remained a theatre until the building was demolished in 1894. San Samuele is in the San Marco sestiere and has a waterbus stop on the right bank of the Grand Canal before you reach the Rialto.  The San Samuele is one of three Venice theatres from its 18th century golden age - along with the San Moisé and San Cassiano or the San Samuele - that no longer exist. The San Benedetto closed in the early 20th century and was remodelled as a cinema.  Renamed Teatro Rossini in 1868 in honour of the composer Gioachino Rossini, it reopened as the Cinema Rossini in 1937. Nowadays, the building, in Salizzada de la Chiesa o del Teatro, which is between Teatro la Fenice and the Grand Canal in the San Marco district, holds a multi-screen cinema.

Also on this day:

1696: The birth of soprano Francesca Cuzzoni

1725: The birth of adventurer Giacomo Casanova

1894: The death of painter and printmaker Achille Vianelli

1959: The birth of Olympic marathon champion Gelindo Bordin

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