31 July

Salvatore Maranzano - crime boss

Sicilian ‘Little Caesar’ who established New York’s Five Families

The criminal boss Salvatore Maranzano, who became the head of organised crime in New York City after the so-called Castellammarese War of 1930-31, was born on this day in 1886 in Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily.  Maranzano’s position as ‘capo di tutti capi’ - boss of all bosses - in the city lasted only a few months before he was killed, but during that time he came up with the idea of organising criminal activity in New York along the lines of the military chain of command established in ancient Rome by his hero, Julius Caesar.  His fascination with and deep knowledge of the Roman general and politician led to him being nicknamed 'Little Caesar' by his Mafia contemporaries in New York.  Installing himself and four other survivors of the Castellammarese War as bosses, he established the principle of replacing the unstructured gang rivalry in New York with five areas of strictly demarcated territory. Read more…

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Alessandro Algardi – sculptor

Baroque works of art were designed to illustrate papal power

Alessandro Algardi, whose Baroque sculptures grace many churches in Rome, was born on this day in 1598 in Bologna.  Algardi emerged as the principal rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the field of portrait sculpture and although Bernini’s creations were known for their dynamic vitality and penetrating characterisation, Algardi’s works were appreciated for their sobriety and surface realism. Many of his smaller works of arts, such as marble busts and terracotta figures are now in collections and museums all over the world.  Algardi was born in Bologna, where he was apprenticed in the studio of Agostino Carracci from a young age.  He soon showed an aptitude for sculpture and his earliest known works, two statues of saints, were created for the Oratory of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna.  After a short stay in Venice, he went to Rome in 1625.  Read more…

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Antonio Conte - football coach

Southern Italian roots of the former boss of Chelsea

Antonio Conte, the coach who led Italy to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 and later became head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, having previously managed Chelsea in the English Premier League, was born on this day in 1969 in Lecce, the Puglian city almost at the tip of the heel of Italy.  As a midfield player for Juventus, he won five Serie A titles and a Champions League. He also played in the European Championships and the World Cup for the Italy national team.  After returning to the Turin club as head coach, he won the Serie A title in each of his three seasons in charge before succeeding Cesare Prandelli as Italy's head coach.  Conte hails from a close-knit family in which his parents, Cosimino and Ada, imposed strict rules, although as a child Antonio was allowed to spend many hours playing football and tennis in the street with his brothers, Gianluca and Daniele.  Read more…

Mario Bava - filmmaker

‘Master of Italian Horror’ had far-reaching influence

Mario Bava, whose near-50 year career in the film business saw him become a pioneer for horror and other genres in Italian cinema, was born on this day in 1914 in Sanremo.  At various times a screenwriter, director, cinematographer and special effects artist, Bava’s work was largely on low-budget productions, yet with his imagination and artistic flair he created films that would have far-reaching influence in the movie industry.  Although the content tended towards the macabre, Bava is credited as the driving force behind the first Italian science fiction film in The Day the Sky Exploded (1958), the first big-screen giallo - the Italian murder mystery genre - in The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963), and the first Italian horror film in I Vampiri - The Vampires - in 1957.  His 1960 movie La maschera del demonio - The Mask of the Devil - was Italy’s first Gothic horror.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires, by Selwyn Raab

For half a century, the American Mafia outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outgunned the FBI and other police agencies, wreaking unparalleled damage on America's social fabric and business enterprises while emerging as the nation's most formidable crime empire. The vanguard of this criminal juggernaut is still led by the Mafia's most potent and largest borgatas: New York's Five Families. Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons, from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and others. This definitive history brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law-enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.  This updated tenth-anniversary edition of the New York Times bestseller features a new preface by the author and is the basis for the History Channel documentary series American Godfathers: The Five Families.

Selwyn Raab was a journalist, author and investigative reporter for the New York Times. He wrote extensively about the American Mafia and criminal justice issues and has won dozens of awards. He played an important role in exposing fabricated testimony surrounding the conviction of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.  His book Justice in the Back Room was the basis for the Kojak television series. 

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30 July

Vittorio Erspamer - chemist

Professor who first identified the neurotransmitter serotonin

Vittorio Erspamer, the pharmacologist and chemist who first identified the neurotransmitter serotonin, was born on this day in 1909 in the small village of Val di Non in Malosco, a municipality of Trentino.  Serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is found in the gastrointestinal tract, blood platelets and central nervous system of animals, including humans.  It is popularly thought to be a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness. A generation of anti-depressant drugs, including Prozac, Seroxat, Zoloft and Celexa, have been developed with the aim of interfering with the action of serotonin in the body in a way that boosts such feelings.  The name serotonin was coined in the United States in 1948 after research doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio discovered a vasoconstrictor substance - one that narrows blood vessels - in blood serum. Read more…

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Naples earthquake of 1626

Devastating tremor and tsunami killed 70,000

The region around Naples, one of the most physically unstable areas of high population in the world with a long history of volcanic activity and earthquakes, suffered one of its more devastating events on this day in 1626.  An earthquake that it has been estimated would register around seven on the modern Richter scale struck the city and the surrounding area.  Its epicentre was about 50km out to sea, beyond the Bay of Naples and the island of Capri to the south, but the shock waves were strong enough to cause the collapse of many buildings in the city and the destruction of more than 30 small towns and villages.  A tsunami followed, in which according to some reports the sea receded by more than three kilometres (two miles) before rushing back with enormous force, towering waves engulfing the coastline.  Read more…

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Adriano Galliani - entrepreneur and football executive

Businessman was CEO of AC Milan in golden era 

The entrepreneur Adriano Galliani, who was chief executive of AC Milan for 21 years, was born on this day in 1944 in Monza, the Lombardy city a little under 20km (12 miles) north of Milan.  With Galliani at the helm, Milan won the Serie A title eight times and were five-times winners of the Champions League in what was a golden era for the club.  Galliani became CEO at the club in 1986 when the ownership transferred to Silvio Berlusconi, the businessman and future prime minister with whom he had created the commercial TV company Mediaset.  He was responsible for some of the club’s most spectacular player signings, persuading such global stars as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, George Weah, Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka to sign for the club.  All five won the Ballon D’Or, the annual award given to the player judged to the best player in all the European leagues.  Read more…

Michelangelo Antonioni - film director

Enigmatic artist often remembered for 1966 movie Blowup

The movie director Michelangelo Antonioni, sometimes described as “the last great” of Italian cinema’s post-war golden era, died on this day in 2007 at his home in Rome.  Antonioni, who was 94 years old when he passed away, was a contemporary of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.  Remarkably, three of that trio’s most acclaimed works - Fellini’s La dolce vita, Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers and Antonioni’s L’avventura - appeared within a few months of one another.  Antonioni’s genius lay in the way he challenged traditional approaches to storytelling and drama and the way people viewed the world in general.  His characters were often intentionally vague, his most favoured themes being social alienation and bourgeois ennui, reflecting his view that life left many people emotionally adrift and unable to find their bearings.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth, by Joanna Moncrieff

For years, we’ve been led to believe that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and antidepressants are the solution. But what if this widely accepted belief has been built on unreliable truths? In Chemically Imbalanced, renowned psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff takes readers on a thought-provoking journey through the history of the serotonin theory of depression, from its origins in the 1960s to its widespread acceptance in the 1990s. With clarity and compelling evidence, Moncrieff exposes how scientific understanding has been swayed by social and economic forces, leading to misconceptions that have shaped treatment decisions for millions. Accessible yet profoundly insightful, Chemically Imbalanced is essential reading for anyone seeking to make more informed choices about their mental health and understand the forces that shape the way we perceive and treat depression today.

Joanna Moncrieff is a Professor at University College London and a practising psychiatrist. She researches and writes about drug treatment in psychiatry from a critical perspective.

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29 July

NEW - Elena of Montenegro

Loving mother of five looked every inch a Queen

A young princess from the Balkans became the Queen of Italy on this day in 1900 while she was enjoying a Mediterranean cruise. Elena of Montenegro and her husband, who became Victor Emmanuel III, had to land at the port of Reggio Calabria after learning that King Umberto I of Italy had been shot dead.  Elena was to carry out her duties as the Queen of Italy for 46 years, until her husband abdicated in favour of his son, who became King Umberto II of Italy in May 1946. She was the daughter of King Nicholas I and Queen Milena of the Principality of Montenegro. Brought up to speak French, Elena was educated in Saint Petersburg in Russia until the age of 18.  When Victor Emmanuel’s mother, Queen Margherita, was looking for a suitable bride for her only son, she was encouraged to consider Elena by Francesco Crispi, the Italian Prime Minister.  Read more…

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Benito Mussolini  - Fascist leader

Future dictator inspired by his father's politics

Benito Mussolini, who would become Italy's notorious Fascist dictator during the 1920s, was born on this day in 1883 in a small town in Emilia-Romagna known then as Dovia di Predappio, about 17km (11 miles) south of the city of Forlì.  His father, Alessandro, worked as a blacksmith while his mother, Rosa was a devout Catholic schoolteacher.  Benito was the eldest of his parents' three children. He would later have a brother, Arnaldo, and a sister, Edvige.  It could be said that Alessandro's political leanings influenced his son from birth.  Benito was named after the Mexican reformist President, Benito Juárez, while his middle names - Andrea and Amilcare - were those of the Italian socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani.  Working in his father's smithy as a boy growing up, Mussolini would listen to Alessandro's admiration for the protagonists of the Italian unification movement, such as the nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini, and the military leader Giuseppe Garibaldi. Read more…

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Teresa Noce - activist and partisan

Anti-Fascist who became union leader and parliamentary deputy

Teresa Noce, who became one of the most important female campaigners for workers’ rights in 20th century Italy, was born on this day in 1900.  A trade union activist as young as 12 years old, Noce spent almost 20 years in exile after the Fascists outlawed her political activity, during which time she became involved with the labour movement and in Paris and subsequently led a French partisan unit under the code name Estella.  After she returned to Italy in 1945 she was elected to the Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies) as a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI).  Working with the Unione Donne Italiane (Italian Women’s Union), she secured changes to the law to protect working mothers and provide paid maternity leave.  Born in one of the poorest districts of Turin, she and her older brother were brought up in a one-parent family.  Read more…

Pope Urban VIII

Pontiff whose extravagance led to disgrace

The controversial Pope Urban VIII died on this day in 1644 in Rome.  Urban VIII – born Maffeo Barberini – was a significant patron of the arts, the sponsor of the brilliant sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose work had a major influence on the look of Rome.  But in his ambitions to strengthen and expand the Papal States, he overreached himself in a disastrous war against Odoardo Farnese, the Duke of Parma, and the expenses incurred in that and other conflicts, combined with extravagant spending on himself and his family, left the papacy seriously weakened.  Indeed, so unpopular was Urban VIII that after news spread of his death there was rioting in Rome and a bust of him on Capitoline Hill was destroyed by an angry mob.  His time in office was also notable for the conviction in 1633 for heresy of the physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei. Read more…

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Agostino Depretis – politician

Premier stayed in power by creating coalitions

One of the longest serving Prime Ministers in the history of Italy, Agostino Depretis died on this day in 1887 in Stradella in the Lombardy region.  He had been the founder and main proponent of trasformismo, a method of making a flexible centrist coalition that isolated the extremists on the right and the left.  Depretis served as Prime Minister three times between 1876 and his death.  He was born in 1813 in Mezzana Corti, a hamlet that is now part of Cava Manara, a municipality in the province of Pavia.  After graduating from law school in Pavia, Depretis ran his family’s estate.  In 1848, the year of revolutions in Europe, he was elected as a member of the first parliament in Piedmont.  He consistently opposed Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, the Prime Minister of Piedmont Sardinia.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Royal House of Savoy: Unifiers of Italy, by Gino Neil Lupini

For generations, the Italian peninsula was Europe’s fragmented battlefield. The Royal House of Savoy: Unifiers of Italy is the definitive account of how the House of Savoy ended that chaos and forged a modern nation. It is a story of how ruthless Realpolitik prevailed over romantic zeal. Through access to private archives and meticulous research, this saga of a dynasty is told one life at a time, revealing successes, failures, and profound humanity. It chronicles the Savoys’ relentless ascent from their origins as rulers of a shrewd Alpine realm that used dynastic marriages, military genius, and calculated diplomacy to European kings. Stripping away the simple myths of the Risorgimento, this account reveals the complex, often brutal political engine behind Italian unity. From the contested Alpine passes to the triumphant entry into Rome, this is the astonishing, dramatic saga of the family that sacrificed everything to make Italy a reality.

Gino Neil Lupini, born in Cape Town, South Africa, to an Italian father and British mother, represented Italy as a professional rugby player. He began writing after transitioning to a career in education. This book followed a meeting with Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, grandson of Umberto II, the last King of Italy.

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Elena of Montenegro

Loving mother of five looked every inch a Queen

The Queen and King in 1901,
about a year into their reign

A young princess from the Balkans became the Queen of Italy on this day in 1900 while she was enjoying a Mediterranean cruise. Elena of Montenegro and her husband, who became Victor Emmanuel III, had to land at the port of Reggio Calabria after learning that King Umberto I of Italy had been shot dead.

Elena was to carry out her duties as the Queen of Italy for 46 years, until her husband abdicated in favour of his son, who became King Umberto II of Italy in May 1946.

She was the daughter of King Nicholas I and Queen Milena of the Principality of Montenegro. Brought up to speak French, Elena was educated in Saint Petersburg in Russia until the age of 18.

When Victor Emmanuel’s mother, Queen Margherita, was looking for a suitable bride for her only son, she was encouraged to consider Elena by Francesco Crispi, the Italian Prime Minister, who was of Albanian descent and keen for Italy to have more influence in the Balkans.

In 1895, Elena attended the International Art Exhibition in Venice, where she was presented to the King and Queen of Italy. Later, at the opera, she was presented to Prince Victor Emmanuel.

They met again in Russia at the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I, and after Victor Emmanuel had made an official request to Elena’s father, he visited Cetinje, the capital of Montenegro, where they became engaged in 1896.

Elena arrived in Italy in October 1896, landing in Bari, where she converted to Catholicism at the Basilica of St Nicholas. The couple were later married in Rome.

In addition to becoming Queen of Italy in 1900, Elena assumed the titles of Queen of Albania and Empress of Ethiopia after Mussolini’s occupation of the two countries.

She was described as stately and tall with black hair and olive skin and looking very much like a Queen. She became popular with the Italians after the Messina earthquake in 1908, when she visited the area and helped with the rescue effort. She arranged for the wounded to be taken to a hospital ship and personally assisted with their care.  She also organised a fund-raising event in Rome to help victims.

A painting of Elena as a young
princess, aged about 15 

She gave birth to five children and was described as a loving mother, who enjoyed simple family life.

During World War I, Elena worked as a nurse and turned the Quirinale and Villa Margherita into hospitals. She studied medicine and obtained an honorary degree.

To raise funds, she invented the signed photograph, to be sold at charity desks. At the end of the war, she suggested selling the crown treasures to pay the war debts. 

In 1920, she founded the Elena di Savoia Foundation to provide scholarships for the orphaned children of former railway workers or soldiers. She suggested that every woman in Italy donated some of their jewellery to the children whose fathers had been sacrificed for the nation, and she launched the initiative by donating some of her own.

In 1937 Pope Pius XI gave Elena the Golden Rose, the most important honour given to a Catholic lady at the time. Pope Pius XII, in a condolence telegram sent to her son, Umberto II, after her death, defined her as a ‘Lady of Charitable Work’.

In 1943, after Victor Emmanuel III had the Fascist dictator Mussolini arrested, he fled to Brindisi with the help of the Allies and Elena followed her husband. 

Queen Elena depicted in a
nurse's uniform in WW1

Tragically, one of their daughters, Mafalda, was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where she died in 1944.

After the republic of Italy was proclaimed, Victor Emmanuel and Elena were forced to live the rest of their lives in exile. They went to Egypt, where Victor Emmanuel died after a year, and eventually Elena went to live in France. While living there she was diagnosed with a severe type of cancer and she died in 1952 during surgery to treat it. 

In 2017, the remains of Elena were repatriated from Montpellier in France, to the Sanctuary of Vicoforte, in Piedmont. The remains of Victor Emmanuel III were transferred two days later from Alexandria, and interred alongside hers.

In 2001, on the occasion of the opening of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the death of Queen Elena, the Bishop of Montpellier opened the diocesan process for her beatification and she was awarded the title Servant of God.

The cylindrical towers of Reggio Calabria's
Castello Aragonese survived the earthquake

Travel tip:

Reggio Calabria, where Elena stepped ashore as Queen of Italy, is the oldest city in Calabria, the most important in what became known as Magna Graecia - Great Greece - after settlers began to arrive in the eighth century BC.  Situated at the tip of the toe of Italy’s ‘boot’, its position between the Strait of Messina and the Aspromonte mountains give it one of the most striking coastal panoramas in southern Italy. Its Lungomare Falcomatà promenade, lined with magnolia trees and palms, has been described as “the most beautiful kilometre of Italy,” offering views of Mount Etna and the Aeolian Islands.  Much of its heritage was destroyed in the earthquake of 1908 and the rebuilt city is notable now for its fine Liberty buildings and its linear plan.  The best of what could be salvaged of the Greek remains can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum of Magna Graecia, housed in Palazzo Piacentini. The Castello Aragonese is the most important surviving fortification in Reggio Calabria. Dating back to far earlier than its Aragonese name suggests, today only its two massive cylindrical towers remain, rising above Piazza Castello in the historic centre and serving as one of the city’s defining symbols.

Check Expedia for places to stay in Reggio Calabria

The frescoed elliptical cupola
of the Santuario di Vicoforte

Travel tip:

The Sanctuary of Vicoforte - Santuario di Vicoforte - is one of Piedmont’s more extraordinary religious monuments. It stands about 85km (51 miles) south of Turin, just outside Mondovì, in the province of Cuneo, surrounded by hills and chestnut woods. Since 2017, it has also become a place of quiet royal significance: the burial site of King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena of Montenegro, whose remains were transferred there from Egypt and Montpellier.  The sanctuary is famous for its elliptical cupola, the largest of its kind in the world, rising to a height of 60m (197ft). This daring shape creates a dramatic interior space, where frescoes sweep across the vault. The sanctuary is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.  Construction began in 1596 after Duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy ordered a grand sanctuary to be built. The original Baroque structure was expanded in the 17th century under the House of Savoy, with the dome completed in 1744. The monumental façade was added in the 19th century. Although the remains of Victor Emmanuel III and Elena were transferred there, Vicoforte did not serve as a principal Savoy burial site - that role belonged to the Basilica of Superga near Turin.

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More reading:

The abdication of Victor Emmanuel III 

Victor Emmanuel III dies in exile

Umberto II - the last King of Italy

Also on this day:

1644: The death of Pope Urban VIII

1883: The birth of Benito Mussolini

1887: The death of politician Agostino Depretis

1900: The birth of activist and partisan Teresa Noce

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