28 April

Nicola Romeo - car maker

Engineer used profits from military trucks to launch famous marque

Nicola Romeo, the entrepreneur and engineer who founded Alfa Romeo cars, was born on this day in 1876 in Sant’Antimo, a town in Campania just outside Naples.  The company, which became one of the most famous names in the Italian car industry, was launched after Romeo purchased the Milan automobile manufacturer ALFA - Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili.  After making substantial profits from building military trucks in the company’s Portello plant during the First World War, in peacetime Romeo switched his attention to making cars. The first Alfa Romeo came off the production line in 1921.  The cars made a major impact in motor racing, mainly thanks to the astuteness of Romeo in hiring the up-and-coming Enzo Ferrari to run his racing team, and the Fiat engineer Vittorio Jano to build his cars.  Away from the track, the Alfa Romeo name sat on the front rank of the luxury car market.  Romeo’s parents, originally from an area known as Lucania that is now part of the Basilicata region, were not wealthy but Nicola was able to attend what was then Naples Polytechnic – now the Federico II University – to study engineering.  Read more…

_______________________________________

The death of Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator captured and killed on shores of Lake Como

Benito Mussolini, the dictator who ruled Italy for 21 years until he was deposed in 1943, was killed by Italian partisans on this day in 1945, at the village of Giulino di Mezzegra on the shore of Lake Como.  The 61-year-old leader of the National Fascist Party had been captured the previous day in the town of Dongo, further up the lake, as he attempted to reach Switzerland along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, and a number of Fascist officials.  With Nazi Germany on the brink of defeat, Mussolini had been planning to board a plane in Switzerland in order to fly to Spain.  Mussolini was said to have donned a Luftwaffe helmet and overcoat in the hope that he would not be recognised but the disguise did not work.  Fearing that the Germans would try to free him, as they had two years earlier when Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III placed him under house arrest in mountainous Abruzzo, the partisans hid Mussolini and the others in a remote farmhouse.  The following morning, along the coast of the lake at Mezzegra, their captives were made to stand against a wall and shot dead. The executions were said to have been carried out by a partisan who went under the name of Colonnello Valerio.  Read more…

Andrea Moroni – architect

Cousin of brilliant painter left mark on Padua

Andrea Moroni, who designed many beautiful buildings in Padua and the Veneto region, died on this day in 1560 in Padua.  Born into a family of stonecutters in Albino near Bergamo in Lombardy, Moroni was the cousin and contemporary of Giovan Battista Moroni, the brilliant Bergamo painter, who was also born in Albino.  Moroni the architect has works attributed to him in Brescia, another city in Lombardy about 50km (31 miles) east of Bergamo. He is known to have been in the city between 1527 and 1532 where he built a choir for the monastery of Santa Giulia.  He probably also designed the building in which the nuns could attend mass in the monastery of Santa Giulia and worked on the church of San Faustino.  As a result, he made his name with the Benedictine Order and obtained commissions for two Benedictine churches in Padua, Santa Maria di Praglia and the more famous Santa Giustina.  His contract with Santa Giustina was renewed every ten years until his death and he settled down to live in Padua.  Read more…

_____________________________________

Escape from San Vittore prison

How a terrorist and a mass murderer brought fear to streets of Milan

Milan citizens were left cowering in fear on this day in 1980 when police engaged in a prolonged shootout in the streets around San Vittore prison, which is situated less than three kilometres from the Duomo.  It followed an escape from the 19th century institution organised jointly by the notorious criminal and mass killer Renato Vallanzasca and the Red Brigades terrorist Corrado Alunni.  Vallanzasca, the head of the Milanese crime gang Banda della Comasina, had been in jail for much of the last eight years and was serving a life sentence for his role in a number of kidnappings and armed robberies, which had resulted in the deaths of a number of police officers, bank staff and members of the public.  Alunni, who had been a member of both the Red Brigades and the Communist terror group Prima Linea, had been jailed in 1978 after his arrest following an armed attack on a carabinieri patrol in the city of Novara in Piedmont.  In the days leading up to their escape attempt, the two had managed to smuggle a number of firearms into the prison and discussed how they would force prison guards to open the gates.  Read more…

____________________________________

Baldus de Ubaldis – lawyer

Legal opinions have stood the test of time

An expert in mediaeval Roman law, Baldus de Ubaldis died on this day in 1400 in Pavia.  De Ubaldis had written more than 3,000 consilia - legal opinions - the most to remain preserved from any mediaeval lawyer.  His work on the law of evidence and gradations of proof remained the standard treatment of the subject for centuries after his death.  De Ubaldis was born into a noble family in Perugia in 1327. He studied law and received the degree of doctor of civil law when he was 17.  He taught law at the University of Bologna for three years and was then offered a professorship at Perugia University where he remained for 33 years.  De Ubaldis subsequently taught law at Pisa, Florence, Padua, Pavia and Piacenza.  He taught Pierre Roger de Beaufort, who became Pope Gregory XI, whose immediate successor, Urban VI, summoned De Ubaldis to Rome in 1380 to consult with him about the anti-pope, Clement VII. The lawyer’s view on the legal issues relating to the schism are laid down in his Questio de schismate.  One of the best works of De Ubaldis is considered to be his commentary on the Libri Feudorum, a compilation of feudal law provisions.  Read more…

_____________________________________

Book of the Day: Alfa Romeo: An Illustrated History, 1910–2020, by Christian Schön

For more than 110 years, Alfa Romeo has set the standard for elegant, sophisticated, and racy Italian automobiles. The first Alfa Romeo, the Tipo 24HP, rolled off the line in 1910 and paved the way for such classic and well-known models as the Tipo 33 Stradale, Guilia, Giulietta, Alfasud, Alfetta, and the Stelvio - Alfa Romeo’s first SUV.  Automotive writer and Alfa Romeo buff Christian Schön celebrates the 110th anniversary of Alfa Romeo by taking a deep dive into the people, places, races, and especially the cars that are part of Alfa Romeo’s rich history and heritage. The book includes: a timeline of all the important events and milestones in Alfa Romeo’s 110-year history, 1910–2020; special sections on Alfa Romeo’s auto designs, engines, technology, concept cars, factories, and advertising, as well as the Alfa Romeo Museum in Milan and the key personnel responsible for Alfa Romeo’s rise to the top; an in-depth look at Alfa Romeo’s racing history, including five world championship titles, a dozen European championships, 11 victories in the legendary Mille Miglia endurance race, and a victory in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM); and exciting behind-the scenes stories and more than 350 colour and black-and-white images. Alfa Romeo: An Illustrated History tells the full story of 110 years of Alfa Romeo, the cars, the people, the racing, and the heritage.

Christian Schön bought his first Alfa Romeo shortly after passing his driving test. As a journalist, he has been involved with the brand for more than three decades, not least as the author of several books celebrating its most famous models. 

Buy from Amazon

Home

27 April

NEW - Charles Emmanuel III – King of Sardinia-Piedmont

Savoy king won new territory and power for his descendants

Charles Emmanuel III, a skilled soldier who ruled over Sardinia and the region of Piedmont, was born on this day in 1701 in Turin.  He became king after his father, Victor Amadeus II, abdicated his throne in 1730. Charles Emmanuel later had his father arrested when he tried to intervene in affairs of state, and had him confined to a castle for the remainder of his years.  Charles Emmanuel had a military and political education and, after he became an adult, other European countries often sought his aid in conflicts because of his skills. After becoming King of Sardinia-Piedmont, he joined in the War of the Polish Succession on the side of France and Spain.  The war was supposedly to determine who was going to be the next King of Poland, but its main results were a redistribution of Italian territory and an increase in Russian influence over Polish affairs.  Charles Emmanuel sent troops to occupy Milan and then scored a brilliant success at the Battle of Guastalla, which took place in Emilia-Romagna in 1734. After the subsequent Treaty of Vienna, he gained the cities of Novara and Tortona in Piedmont.  Read more…

_______________________________________

Vittorio Cecchi Gori - entrepreneur

Ex-president of Fiorentina who produced two of Italy’s greatest films

Vittorio Cecchi Gori, whose chequered career in business saw him produce more than 300 films and own Fiorentina’s football club but also saw him jailed for fraudulent bankruptcy, was born on this day in 1942 in Florence.  The son of Mario Cecchi Gori, whose production company he inherited, he provided the financial muscle behind two of Italy’s greatest films of recent years, Il Postino (1994), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful (1997), which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film.  He was also involved with the 1992 Oscar winner Mediterraneo, directed by Gabriele Salvatores, which also won in the Best Foreign Language film category.  Vittorio’s legacy from his father also included Fiorentina football club, of which he was president from 1993 to 2002.   With Cecchi Gori’s backing, while his involvement with the movie business was generating such huge profits, Fiorentina enjoyed great times.  He invested heavily in new players and persuaded the club’s icon, the Argentine forward Gabriel Batistuta, to stay after the viola were relegated in 1993.  Read more…

_______________________________________

Renato Rascel - actor, singer and songwriter

Film and TV star who wrote the iconic song Arrivederci Roma

Renato Rascel, whose remarkable career encompassed more than 60 movies, a hit 1970s TV series, representing Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest and writing one of the most famous Italian songs of all time, was born on this day in 1912 in Turin.  Rascel was Italy’s entry at Eurovision 1960 in London, singing Romantica, with which he had won the Sanremo Music Festival earlier in the year. Romantica finished eighth overall in London.  He is arguably most famous, however, for the song Arrivederci Roma, which he wrote for the 1955 film of the same name, in which he starred with the Italian-American tenor and actor Mario Lanza, which was subsequently released for English and American cinema audiences with the title Seven Hills of Rome.  Arrivederci Roma quickly became a favourite Italian song and scores of big-name singers recorded cover versions, including Bing Crosby, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, Dionne Warwick, Nat King Cole, Perry Como and Vic Damone.  Only a year earlier, Rascel had written the best-selling Italian song of 1954 in Te voglio bene tanto tanto (I Love You So Much).  Read more…

Antonio Gramsci - left-wing intellectual

Communist leader who Mussolini could not gag

Antonio Gramsci, one of the more remarkable intellectuals of left-wing Italian politics in the early 20th century, died on this day in 1937 in Rome, aged only 46.  A founding member and ultimately leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), he was arrested by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime in November 1926 and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.   In failing health, he was granted his release after a campaign by friends and supporters but died without leaving the clinic in which he spent his final two years.  The conditions he encountered in jail led him to develop high blood pressure, angina, tuberculosis and acute gastric disorders.  Yet he found sufficient energy while imprisoned  to study the social and political history of Italy in extensive detail and to record his thoughts and theories in notebooks and around 500 letters to friends and supporters.  Many of his propositions heavily influenced the political strategy of communist parties in the West after the Second World War following the publication of his Prison Notebooks.  Gramsci was born in January 1891 in the small town of Ales, in a mountainous inland part of Sardinia.  Read more…

____________________________________

Cesare Bianchi - head chef

From shores of Lake Como to London’s Café Royal

Cesare Bianchi, who rose from humble beginnings to become head chef at London’s prestigious Café Royal in the 1930s, was born on this day in 1897 in Cernobbio, a village on Lake Como in northern Italy.  He moved to England when he was only 16, hoping to build a career in catering and soon found work doing odd jobs in a London kitchen. However, he had been in the city barely a year when the outbreak of the First World War meant he had to return to his homeland for national service.  In his case, it was with the Alpini, Italy’s mountain brigades, with whom he was an interpreter.  Eager to resume his career in England, once the war was over Cesare took a job at the Palace Hotel in Aberdeen.  It was there he met Martha Gall, the woman who would become his wife.  They were married in 1921 and Martha soon gave birth to their daughter, Patricia.  Ambitious, Cesare persuaded his wife to leave Scotland behind so that he could make another attempt to establish himself in London.  His culinary talents took him a long way as he worked his way up from modest beginnings to land a place in the kitchen at the Café Royal in Regent Street.  Read more…

______________________________________

Popes John XXIII and John Paul II made saints

Crowd of 800,000 in St Peter's Square for joint canonisation

Pope Francis declared Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II as saints at a ceremony during Mass in Rome’s St Peter’s Square on this day in 2014.  Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world converged on the Vatican to attend the ceremony, which celebrated two popes recognised as giants of the Catholic Church in the 20th century.  There was scarcely room to move in St Peter's Square, the Via della Conciliazione and the adjoining streets.  The crowd, probably the biggest since John Paul II’s beatification three years earlier, was estimated at around 800,000, of which by far the largest contingent had made the pilgrimage from John Paul’s native Poland to see their most famous compatriot become a saint.  Thousands of red and white Polish flags filled the square.  In his homily, Pope Francis said Saints John XXIII and John Paul II were “priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them God was more powerful, faith was more powerful”.  He added that the two popes had “co-operated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating” the Catholic Church.  Read more…

________________________________________

Book of the Day: A History of Savoy: Gatekeeper of the Alps, by John Dormandy

Savoy and its Alps were for seven centuries an independent state at the centre of Europe, separating France from the patchwork of principalities that made up Italy. Merchants, clerics, pilgrims, diplomats as well as privileged young Englishmen on the Grand Tour, regularly used the Alpine passes. But it was the need of European armies to cross Savoy which made its rulers powerful as the Gatekeepers of the Alps. It allowed the Duchy of Savoy to prosper and survive when all the other great duchies of Burgundy, Milan, Provence and Dauphin' disappeared at the end of the fifteenth century. Savoy successfully resisted the pressure from Protestant Geneva on its doorstep, but was the first country to succumb to the French Revolution. In A History of Savoy, John Dormandy explains how by judiciously switching alliances during the European wars beginning at the end of the seventeenth century, the House of Savoy finally gained a crown. The conspiracy concocted by Napoleon III and Cavour led directly to the unification of Italy and the definitive annexation of Savoy to France in 1860. Simultaneously, the Alps that had been the source of Savoy's power, now became the source of its prosperity as a centre of tourism.

John Dormandy was born in Budapest and educated in Geneva, Paris, London and New York. As Professor of Vascular Surgery at London University, he authored five medical books and more than two hundred research papers. Over the past 25 years he has regularly visited Savoy and is a member of the Soci't' Savoisienne d'Histoire and the Acad'mie Florimontane.

Buy from Amazon

Home

Charles Emmanuel III – King of Sardinia-Piedmont

Savoy king won new territory and power for his descendants

Charles Emmanuel III was a skilled
soldier who found himself in demand

Charles Emmanuel III, a skilled soldier who ruled over Sardinia and the region of Piedmont, was born on this day in 1701 in Turin.

He became king after his father, Victor Amadeus II, abdicated his throne in 1730. Charles Emmanuel later had his father arrested when he tried to intervene in affairs of state, and had him confined to a castle for the remainder of his years.

Charles Emmanuel had a military and political education and, after he became an adult, other European countries often sought his aid in conflicts because of his skills. After becoming King of Sardinia-Piedmont, he joined in the War of the Polish Succession on the side of France and Spain. 

The war was supposedly to determine who was going to be the next King of Poland, but its main results were a redistribution of Italian territory and an increase in Russian influence over Polish affairs.

Charles Emmanuel sent troops to occupy Milan and then scored a brilliant success at the Battle of Guastalla, which took place in Emilia-Romagna in 1734. After the subsequent Treaty of Vienna, he gained the cities of Novara and Tortona in Piedmont.

During the War of the Austrian Succession, which began in 1740, Charles Emmanuel fought against the Spanish and French, who had designs on Milan, as he himself did. He inflicted a crushing defeat on the French at the Battle of Assietta in 1747. At the end of the war, because he was an astute negotiator, he was able to regain Nice and Savoy for his family and obtain Vigevano in Lombardy and territory in Pianura Padana, as a result of the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle in 1748.

He then concentrated on carrying out administrative reforms and maintaining a well-disciplined army and did not participate in the Seven Years War, which started in 1756 and involved many of the major European powers at the time. 

The Battle of Assieta, in which Charles
Emmanuel scored a notable victory

He also restored the Universities of Sassari and Cagliari in Sardinia to help improve the poor conditions on the island.

His father, Victor Amadeus II, was the first head of the Savoy family to acquire a royal crown, having been given the Kingdom of Sicily because of the part he played in the war of the Spanish Succession. He was crowned King of Sicily, but was later forced to exchange Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia. 

However, Victor Amadeus II had begun to show signs of  melancholy (nowadays known as depression) after becoming King of Sardinia, and he abdicated his throne and retired from the royal court completely in 1730.

But after spending some time at his residence in Chambery in France, Victor Amadeus II started to intervene in his son’s government. He accused Charles Emmanuel of incompetence and reclaimed the throne, establishing himself in the Castle of Moncalieri, a Savoy residence in Piedmont.

Victor Amadeus III, who was
Charles Emmanuel's heir

He was suspected of planning an attack on Milan, which could have led to an invasion of Piedmont, so Charles Emmanuel had his father arrested and taken to the Castle of Rivoli in Turin, where he was confined until his death in 1732, without causing any further interference in his son’s reign.

Charles Emmanuel was married three times. His wives all died young, although between them they bore him 13 children.

He was a keen art collector and added to the collections of art treasures built up by his Savoy ancestors. The Flemish battle painter Jan Peeter Verdussen was his court painter and painted many of his military victories.

Charles Emmanuel died in 1773 in Turin at the age of 71 and was buried in the Basilica of Superga. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, who became Victor Amadeus III.

A view over the city of Turn at dusk, with
the Alps forming a distant backdrop

Travel tip:

The region of Piedmont in northern Italy is the second largest after Sicily. It borders France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and a small part of Emilia-Romagna. Piedmont was acquired by Otto of Savoy in 1046 and its capital was established at Chambery, which is now in France. The Savoy territory became the Duchy of Savoy in 1416 and the seat of the Duchy was moved to Turin in 1563 by Duke Emanuele Filiberto. After Victor Amadeus II became King of Sardinia in 1720, Piedmont became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Turin grew in importance as a European capital city. 

The Castello di Rivoli, where Charles Emmanuel
II had his father confined, now houses a museum

Travel tip:

The Castello di Rivoli, where Charles Emmanuel III had his father confined, was acquired by the House of Savoy in the 11th century. It probably dates back to the ninth century. It became one of the many royal residences in Turin belonging to the Savoy family. It is currently home to a museum of contemporary art. In 1997 it was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage site list, along with 13 other residences belonging to the House of Savoy.  It is located in Rivoli, a municipality of almost 47,000 inhabitants about 15 km west of Turin, within the city’s metropolitan area. The castle complex suffered serious damage during repeated sieges inflicted by the French during the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century and had to be rebuilt, with several architects playing a role, including Michelangelo Garove, Antonio Bertola and Filippo Juvarra.

Also on this day:

1538: The birth of painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo

1575: The birth of Maria de' Medici, Queen of France

1977: The birth of astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

1925: The birth of chocolatier Michele Ferrero

1993: The birth of rugby player Tommaso Allan

Home

26 April

Michele Ferrero - the man who invented Nutella

Hazelnut spread that became a worldwide favourite

The man who invented the global commercial phenomenon that is Nutella spread was born on this day in 1925.  Michele Ferrero, who died in 2015 aged 89, owned the Italian chocolate manufacturer Ferrero SpA, the second largest confectionery producer in Europe after Nestlé.  He was the richest individual in Italy, listed by the Bloomberg Billionaires index in 2014 as the 20th richest person in the world.  The wealth of Michele and his family was put at $20.4 billion, around 14.9 billion euros.  Ferrero is famous for such brands as Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cheri, Kinder and Tic Tacs.  But, it could be argued, none of those names would probably exist had it not been for Nutella.  The chocolate and hazelnut spread came into being after Michele, who was born in the small town of Dogliani in Piedmont, inherited the Ferrero company from his father, Pietro.  With high taxes on cocoa beans making conventional chocolate expensive to make, Pietro had managed to build the business by producing a solid confectionery bar that combined Gianduja, a traditional Piedmontese hazelnut paste, with about 20 per cent chocolate.  Read more…

______________________________________

Samantha Cristoforetti - astronaut

Record-breaker spent almost 200 days in space

Italy’s first female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, was born on this day in 1977 in Milan.  A captain in the Italian Air Force, in which she is a pilot and engineer, Cristoforetti holds the world record for the longest space flight by a woman, which she set as a crew member on the European Space Agency’s Futura mission to the International Space Station in 2014.  Cristoforetti and her two fellow astronauts, the Russian Anton Shkaplerov and the American Terry Virts, left Kazakhstan in a Soyuz spacecraft on November 23, 2014 and returned on June 11, 2015, having spent 199 days and 16 hours in space – four days longer than the previous record for a female astronaut, held by the American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams.  The mission was supposed to have ended a month earlier but had to be extended after a Russian supply freighter failed to reach the ISS. The extra time also allowed Cristoforetti to set a record for the longest time in space by a European astronaut of either gender.  While Williams was hailed as the first person to complete a marathon in space when she ran 26 miles and 385 yards on the ISS’s on-board treadmill, Cristoforetti can claim to be the first person to have brewed an espresso coffee in space.  Read more…

______________________________________

Gian Paolo Lomazzo - artist

Painter became leading art historian and critic of the 16th century

Gian Paolo Lomazzo, a talented painter who went blind when he was 33 and turned to writing instead, was born on this day in Milan in 1538.  He became an expert on the work of Leonardo da Vinci and was given unique access to the artist’s own written work.  Lomazzo, whose first name is sometimes given as Giovan or Giovanni, was born into a family who had just moved to Milan from the town of Lomazzo in the province of Como in Lombardy.  He began training as a painter early in his life with the artists Gaudenzio Ferrari and Giovan Battista della Cerva in Milan.  By 1567 Lomazzo had painted a large Allegory of the Lenten Feast for the Church of Sant’ Agostino in Piacenza. Other notable works by him include an elaborate fresco of a dome with Glory of Angels and a painting depicting The Fall of Simon Magus for the Cappella Foppa in the Church of San Marco in Milan.  Lomazzo was so admired as an artist that the sculptor and medallist Annibale Fontana depicted him on a medallion in 1562.  But by 1571 Lomazzo had become blind and could no longer paint. He adapted to writing about art instead and produced two complex treatises that are regarded as milestones in the development of art criticism.  Read more…

______________________________________

Maria de’ Medici

Medici daughter who ended up ruling France

Maria de’ Medici, who became Queen of France after her marriage to King Henri IV, was born on this day in 1575 at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.  After her husband was assassinated the day after his coronation, she ruled France as regent for her son, Louis, until he came of age.  Maria was the daughter of the grand duke of Tuscany, Francesco de’ Medici, and his wife, Joanna of Austria.  Henri had divorced his wife, Margaret, and married Maria in 1600 to obtain a large dowry that would help him pay his debts.  In 1601 Maria gave birth to a son, the future King Louis XIII, and then went on to bear a further five children for her husband.  However she resented her husband’s infidelities and he despised her friends from Florence, Concino Concini and his wife, Leonora.  After Henri was assassinated in 1610, the French parliament proclaimed Maria regent for her young son.  Guided by her favourite, Concini, who had become Marquis of Ancre, Maria reversed Henri’s anti-Spanish policy. She is also alleged to have squandered the country’s revenue and made humiliating concessions to its rebellious nobles.  Read more…

_____________________________________

Tommaso Allan - rugby player

Ex-Treviso star has won 80 international caps

The rugby player Tommaso Allan, who has won 80 international caps for the Italy rugby union team since his debut in 2013, was born on this day in 1993 in Vicenza.  A specialist fly-half, Allan is second in the all-time points scoring chart for the Azzurri, having amassed a total of 501 points, including 15 tries and 89 conversions.  Only Diego Dominguez, who also played at fly-half before retiring in 2003, scored more points for the national team in his career.  Currently playing for Perpignan in France, Allan spent five seasons playing for Benetton Treviso, one of Italy’s most famous and successful clubs.  Allan was born into a rugby-playing family. His mother, Paola Berlato, was herself an international player, with four caps for the Azzurre at scrum half; his father, William, born in Scotland, spent two years playing for the rugby team of Thiene, a small city in Vicenza province. His father’s brother, John, won nine international caps for Scotland and 13 for South Africa.  Tommaso began playing himself at around the age of six, training at the Petrarca Padova youth academy.   Read more…

_______________________________________

Book of the Day: Nutella: 60 Classic Recipes: From simple, family treats to delicious cakes & desserts, by Grégory Cohen

Who doesn't enjoy a plate of Nutella on toast? In this Official Nutella Cookbook, the universally popular hazelnut cocoa spread that is a staple of the breakfasts and snacks of our childhood is taken to a new level here by Chef Grégory Cohen in 60 mouthwatering recipes. Discover a delicious array of cakes, pastries and desserts made with the classic store cupboard ingredient. Bakes include Nutella mixed berry muffins, babka and orange cake, alongside delights such as Tarte Tatin, vanilla & praline éclairs and Yule log. With techniques and recipes to suit every level of expertise, Nutella: 60 Classic Recipes will appeal to everyone with a shared love of the world-famous spread.

Grégory Cohen is a French celebrity chef, whose inventive and contemporary cooking style comes from his diverse experience. He worked in the kitchen from an early age, studying at the family gourmet restaurant Le Galant Verre.

Buy from Amazon

Home