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…
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.