2 April

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.  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 Frederick 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. Read more…

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 suffered a serious intestinal illness at the age of 20 and then being hit by a car.  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. 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. Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Story of My Life, by Giacomo Casanova. Introduced by Gilberto Pizzamiglio

Seducer, gambler, necromancer, swindler, swashbuckler, poet, self-made gentleman, bon vivant, Giacomo Casanova was not only the most notorious lover of the Western world, but a supreme storyteller. He lived a life stranger than most fictions, and the tale of his own adventures is his most compelling story, and one that remained unfinished at the time of his death. The Story of My Life is a selection of stories that contains all the highlights of Casanova's life: his youth in Venice as a precocious ecclesiastic; his dabbling in the occult; his imprisonment and thrilling escape; and his amorous conquests, ranging from noblewomen to nuns.

Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was born in Venice, the son of actors who wanted him to become a priest. Instead he had numerous occupations, and is remembered as one of history's great lovers.  Gilberto Pizzamiglio is Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Venice.

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1 April

NEW - Simona Ventura - TV presenter

Star of sports and entertainment shows

The presenter Simona Ventura, whose career spanning forty years has showcased an outstanding versatility and made her one of Italian television’s most familiar faces, was born on this day in 1965 in Bentivoglio, a small town about 15km (nine miles) northeast of Bologna in Emilia-Romagna.  Ventura has made her mark in entertainment and reality TV but has also enjoyed a high-profile presence in sports broadcasting, especially football.  Her career highlights include hosting the live Sunday afternoon football show Quelli che il Calcio for a decade and leading L’isola dei famosi - an Italian reality show similar to Survivor and the UK’s I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here - for eight editions.  Ventura also has the distinction of being one of only three women to be granted the role of main host of the Sanremo Music Festival. Read more… 

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Arrigo Sacchi - football coach

AC Milan manager's tactics revolutionised football in Italy

Arrigo Sacchi, the football coach who led AC Milan to back-to-back European Cups and steered Italy to a World Cup final, was born on this day in 1946 in Fusignano, a small town not far from Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna.  Unusually among top coaches, Sacchi never played football as a professional.  Aware of his limited ability, he quickly decided he would concentrate instead on becoming a manager, taking charge of a local amateur team, Baracca Lugo, when he was just 26.  Literally, he worked his way up from the bottom, making a living as a shoe salesman while training his players in his spare time.  Yet step by step he ascended to the very top of the game, landing jobs on the coaching staffs at Cesena, Rimini and Fiorentina before Parma, then in the third tier of the Italian football pyramid, made him head coach in 1985.  Read more…

April Fools' Day - Italian style

What lies behind the tradition of Pesce d'Aprile?

Playing practical jokes on April 1 is a tradition in Italy in the same way as many other countries, although in Italy the day is called Pesce d’Aprile – April’s Fish – rather than April Fools’ Day.  It is said to have become popular in Italy between 1860 and 1880, especially in Genoa, where families in the wealthier social circles embraced the idea, already popular in France, of marking the day by playing tricks on one another.  The most simple trick involves sticking a cut-out picture of a fish on the back of an unsuspecting ‘victim’ and watching how long it takes for him or her to discover he had been pranked, but over the years there have been many much more elaborate tricks played.  Often these have involved spoof announcements or false stories in the newspapers or on TV or radio shows, aimed at embarrassing large numbers of gullible readers, viewers or listeners. Read more…

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Giancarlo Antognoni - footballer

Midfield star recovered from horrific injury to win World Cup

The footballer Giancarlo Antognoni, who won 73 international caps for his country and was a member of the Italy team that won the 1982 World Cup in Spain, was born on this day in 1954 in Marsciano, a medieval town in Umbria, some 25km (16 miles) south of the regional capital, Perugia.  Antognoni, who spent most of his club career with Fiorentina and still works for the club today, was regarded as one of the most talented midfield players of his generation, but had the misfortune to miss Italy’s triumph against West Germany in the 1982 final, having suffered a broken foot in the semi-final against Poland.  Nonetheless, he made a major contribution to the performances that carried the azzurri through to the final, including the victories over holders Argentina and tournament favourites Brazil in the second phase. Read more…

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Alberto Zaccheroni - football coach

First Italian coach to lead a foreign nation to success

The football coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who won the Serie A title with AC Milan and steered the Japan national team to success in the Asia Cup, was born on this day in 1953 in Meldola, a town in Emilia-Romagna.  In a long coaching career, Zaccheroni took charge of 13 teams in Italy, a club side in China and two international teams, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.  In common with many coaches in Italy, Zaccheroni began at semi-professional level and worked his way up through the professional leagues.  Before winning the scudetto with Milan in 1999, he had twice won titles at Serie D (fourth tier) level and twice in Serie C.  Zaccheroni played as a fullback, with the youth team at Bologna and the Serie D team Cesenatico in Emilia-Romagna, but his career was hampered by a lung disease he contracted at the age of 17. Read more…

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Book of the Day: Italian Pop Culture: Media, Products, Imageries, edited by Fabio Corsini

What does the expression pop culture mean today? And how does it contribute to understanding a country and a cultural group? Italian Pop Culture: Media, Products, Imageries is a collection of essays, diverse in content, approach and perspective, which tries to answer these questions. It aims at describing and figuring out the texture of Italian pop culture – as a meaningful juxtaposition between high and low, mass and elite, artistic and consumerist – in relation to the Italian mediascape and cultural context.  Through the mosaic of narratives produced by television, music, comics and novels, to name a few, and the mixture of genres and types of cultural products analyzed in every essay, the reader is allowed to further the knowledge of Italian pop culture and to get a glimpse of Italians and ‘Italian-ness’.

Fabio Corsini is an editor, author, and academic co-ordinator known for his work in media studies, Italian pop culture, and communication.  He is the co-ordinator of the communication programme at Kent State University, Florence Center.

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Simona Ventura - TV presenter

Star of sports and entertainment shows

Simona Ventura has been one of 
Italian TV's most familiar faces

The presenter Simona Ventura, whose career spanning forty years has showcased an outstanding versatility and made her one of Italian television’s most familiar faces, was born on this day in 1965 in Bentivoglio, a small town about 15km (nine miles) northeast of Bologna in Emilia-Romagna.

Ventura has made her mark in entertainment and reality TV but has also enjoyed a high-profile presence in sports broadcasting, especially football.

Her career highlights include hosting the live Sunday afternoon football show Quelli che il calcio for a decade and leading L’isola dei famosi - an Italian reality show similar to Survivor and the UK’s I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here - for eight editions.

Ventura also has the distinction of being one of only three women to be granted the role of main host of the Sanremo Music Festival, having fronted the prestigious annual song contest in 2004. 

Other highlights include covering the 1990 FIFA World Cup - hosted by Italy - plus UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1992 Olympics as a TV sports journalist.

At different times, she has been a staple of both national public broadcaster Rai and the commercially-owned Mediaset network, fronting major variety shows such as Mai dire gol, Le Iene, and Festivalbar.  She has also enjoyed a long-running relationship with X-Factor Italia as a judge. 

Although born in Bentivoglio, Ventura moved at an early age to Chivasso, just outside Turin in Piedmont. After studying physical education at high school, she became interested in television as a career. In common with many girls with ambitions in that direction, she found her looks opened doors. She entered and won a beauty pageant in the Liguria resort of Alassio and made her television debut in 1988 as an assistant to the host of a game show on Rai Uno.

With aspirations beyond being merely a showgirl - the term that described the such roles in Italian entertainment programmes - Ventura pursued her passion for sport, joining Telemontecarlo as a trainee sports journalist, which provided the chance to report for the station at the Italia ‘90 World Cup tournament, the European championships in Sweden in 1992 and the Olympic Games in Barcelona the same year. 

By the autumn of 1992, she was reporting on Serie A matches for the Sunday afternoon Rai magazine programme, Domenica In, which in turn persuaded the producers of Rai Due’s long-running Sunday night football highlights show La Domenica Sportiva, traditionally an all-male platform, to give her the role of host. 

Simona Ventura in 1988, at the
start of her media career

Moving to Mediaset in the mid‑1990s broadened her appeal: she became a familiar face on high‑profile variety shows such as Mai dire gol, Scherzi a parte, Festivalbar, Le Iene, Matricole, and Zelig. These programmes showcased her comedic timing and strong rapport with live audiences.

In 2001, Ventura returned to Rai to host Quelli che il calcio, a role she held until 2011. The programme blended football culture with entertainment in a format that suited her energetic style. She was chosen as the first host of L’isola dei famosi in 2003, keeping the position for the popular show’s first eight seasons.

Her most prestigious assignment came in 2004 when she became only the third woman to be appointed the main presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival, after Loretta Goggi (1986) and Raffaella Carrà (2001). She was scheduled to return to Sanremo in 2021 as co-host alongside Amadeus but had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.

After a decade at Rai, Ventura signed an exclusive contract with Sky in 2011, serving as judge, presenter, and creative lead on projects including X Factor and Simona Goes to Hollywood. She later returned to Mediaset, appearing as a contestant on L’isola dei famosi in 2016.

Away from television, Ventura has appeared in acting roles in a number of films, including Fratelli Coltelli (1997), La fidanzata di papà (2008), and a cameo in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere (2010). 

In 2023, she was a contestant in both Il Cantante Mascherano (The Masked Singer) and Ballando con le Stelle (Dancing with the Stars), finishing runner-up in the latter with partner Samuel Peron.

The winner of multiple awards in recognition of her longevity and impact on Italian television, Ventura has since 2024 been married to journalist Giovanni Terzi. She has three children - Niccolò, Giacomo, and adopted daughter Caterina - from her previous marriage to footballer Stefano Bettarini. 

The Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, with its
striking facade, is one of the highlights of Chivasso

Travel tip:

Chivasso, where Simona Ventura grew up, is a town about 20km (12 miles) northeast of the centre of Turin, situated on the left bank of the Po river, close to where it is joined by the Orco. It is known for its medieval centre, late‑Gothic cathedral, and long history as a strategic crossroads in the Canavese region. Inhabited since the Neolithic period, the town is remembered in history for its heroic resistance against French troops during the War of the Spanish Succession. Chivasso’s architectural and cultural highlights include the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, a jewel of late Gothic architecture with a richly decorated terracotta façade and an octagonal tower, the last remnant of the town’s medieval castle, and the Palazzo Santa Chiara, originally intended as a convent, later transformed into the town hall. It includes a charming miniature 19th‑century horseshoe‑shaped theatre.  The historic centre features medieval arcades, elegant streets such as Via Torino and a number of lively squares with cafés and pastry shops. Chivasso is famous for its nocciolini - tiny hazelnut meringue biscuits made from Piedmont hazelnuts, sugar and egg white. 

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The remains of the Castello di Bentivoglio still bear
a red cross from its days as a military hospital

Travel tip:

Bentivoglio, northeast of Bologna, is a small town best known for its Renaissance‑era castle, the Navile Canal, and one of Italy’s most important museums of rural culture. Between Bologna and Ferrara, the town has been shaped to a large degree by the Navile Canal, which historically links Bologna with the Adriatic and runs through the town. The aforementioned castle, the Castello di Bentivoglio, was built in the late 15th century by Giovanni II Bentivoglio, lord of Bologna from 1463 to 1506, and incorporates an earlier 1390 fortress. Serving as a hunting and leisure retreat, it was named Domus Jocunditatis, or the House of Joy. During the First World War, it housed a military hospital for the Italian Red Cross. In 1945, during their retreat, the Nazis destroyed the 14th-century castle tower, as part of a policy of removing any elevated point from which the advancing Allies could track their progress. Bentivoglio’s Villa Smeraldi houses the Museo della Civiltà Contadina, one of Italy’s most significant museums of rural culture, set in a 19th‑century villa and English‑style park. The nearby Oasi La Rizza, a wetland area, is famous for the recent return of the white stork, which now nests there after centuries of absence.

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More reading:

Edda “Edy” Campagnoli, fifties showgirl who married a famous footballer

Raffaella Carrà - singer, dancer, television presenter and actress

How the historic Sanremo Music Festival inspired Eurovision

Also on this day:

1946: The birth of football coach Arrigo Sacchi

1953: The birth of football coach Alberto Zaccheroni

1954: The birth of footballer Giancarlo Antognoni

April Fool’s Day - Pesce d’Aprile

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31 March

Dante Giacosa - auto engineer

Designer known as ‘the father of the Cinquecento'

The automobile engineer Dante Giacosa, who worked for the Italian car maker Fiat for almost half a century and designed the iconic Fiat 500 - the Cinquecento - in all its incarnations as well as numerous other classic models, died on this day in 1996 at the age of 91.  Giacosa was the lead design engineer for Fiat from 1946 to 1970. As such, he was head of all Fiat car projects during that time and the direction of the company’s output was effectively entirely down to him.  In addition to his success with the Cinquecento, Giacosa’s Fiat 128, launched in 1969, became the template adopted by virtually every other manufacturer in the world for front-wheel drive cars.  His Fiat 124, meanwhile, was exported to the Soviet Union and repackaged as the Zhiguli, known in the West as the Lada, which introduced Soviet society of the 1970s to the then-bourgeois concept of private car ownership.  Read more…

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Francesco Durante – composer and teacher

Musician devoted his life to passing on his composing skills to others

An esteemed composer of religious and instrumental music, Francesco Durante was born on this day in 1684 at Frattamaggiore near Naples.  Durante was a highly regarded teacher at the San Onofrio Conservatorio and the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatorio and was also Chapelmaster at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesú Cristo in Naples.  He had some famous pupils, among whom were Niccoló Jommelli, Niccoló Piccinni and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, who became leading composers of the Neapolitan School of 18th century opera.  Durante studied music in Rome and at Naples, where he was a pupil at San Onofrio and is believed to have studied under Alessandro Scarlatti. He began his own teaching career at the San Onofrio Conservatorio in 1710.  Between 1728 and 1742 he also taught at Santa Maria Loreto and the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesú Cristo.  Read more…

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Maurizio De Giovanni – crime writer

Detective novelist has opened up his native Naples to crime fiction fans

Bestselling author Maurizio De Giovanni was born on this day in 1958 in Naples in southern Italy.  His novels have been translated into English, Spanish, Catalan, French and German and have sold well over a million copies throughout Europe.  De Giovanni is best known for his two fictional detectives, Commissario Ricciardi, who works as a detective in 1930s Naples, and Ispettore Lojacono, who has been transferred to present day Naples from his home town of Agrigento in Sicily, after being accused of associating with the Mafia.  He has also written stories featuring a very different character, a Naples social worker called Mina Settembre.  In 2005, De Giovanni won a writing competition for unpublished authors with a short story, I vivi e i morti - The Living and the Dead -  which was set in the 1930s and featured the character Commissario Ricciardi.  Read more…

Bianca Maria Visconti – Duchess of Milan

Ruler fought alongside her troops to defend her territory

Bianca Maria Visconti, the daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, was born on this day in 1425 near Settimo Pavese in Lombardy.  A strong character, her surviving letters showed she was able to run Milan efficiently after becoming Duchess and even supposedly donned a suit of armour and rode with her troops into battle, earning herself the nickname, Warrior Woman.  Bianca Maria was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Milan, and was sent to live with her mother in comfortable conditions in a castle where she received a good education.  At the age of six she was betrothed for political reasons to the condottiero, Francesco I Sforza, who was 24 years older than her.  Despite the political situation changing many times over the years, Bianca Maria and Francesco Sforza did get married in 1441 when she was 16.  Read more…

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Franco Bonvicini – comic book artist

Comic artist became famous for satirising the Nazis

Franco Bonvicini, who signed his comic strips Bonvi, was born on this day in 1941 in either Parma or Modena in Emilia-Romagna.  The correct birthplace is unknown. According to the artist, his mother registered him in both places to obtain double the usual amount of food stamps for rations.  After a brief spell working in advertising, Bonvi made his debut in the comic strip world for the Rome newspaper Paese Sera with his creation Sturmtruppen in 1968.  This series satirising the German army was a big hit and was published in various periodicals over the years. It was also translated for publication in other countries.  Although left-wing and a pacifist, Bonvi was fascinated by war and built up immense knowledge about Nazi Germany’s uniforms, weapons and equipment, which he depicted faithfully in his illustrations.  Read more…

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Pope Benedict XIV

Bologna cardinal seen as great intellectual leader

Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, who would in his later years become Pope Benedict XIV, was born on this day in 1675 in Bologna.  Lambertini was a man of considerable intellect, considered one of the most erudite men of his time and arguably the greatest scholar of all the popes.  He promoted scientific learning, the Baroque arts, the reinvigoration of the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the study of the human form.  He was Bishop of Ancona at the age of 52, Archbishop of Bologna at 56 and Pope at 65 but at no time did he consider his elevation to these posts an honour upon which to congratulate himself.  He saw them as the opportunity to do good and tackled each job with zeal and energy. A man of cheerful character, he set out never to allow anyone to leave his company dissatisfied or angry, without feeling strengthened by his wisdom or advice.  Read more…

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Book of the Day:  Fiat 500: The History of a Legend from 1936 to the Present, by Massimo Condolo

A true icon of Italian lifestyle, the 500 was actually supposed to be a niche product, but in just a few years, its elegance and affordability made it one of the best-selling cars, with four million units manufactured and sold in a 20-year lifespan. This volume recounts the story of this Italian symbol from the early models, through the iconic 1957 Nuova 500, up to the current version thanks to the many renderings and original designs included. Fiat 500: The History of a Legend gathers pictures to witness the relevance of the 500 and its many appearances in art, news, movies and every-day life.

Massimo Condolo was born in Turin in 1968. He is the author of several books about the history of on-road transportation and the railway. As a journalist, he writes for the main Italian magazines about transportation.

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